Harry Potter & The Golden Warrior
by MarvelMatt
Summary: Annoyed with Dumbledore after the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Sirius seeks out help from Remus. They begin to train Harry over the Summer before his fifth year, while informing him of his destiny, as well as the legend of the mysterious golden warrior. But just what does it mean for everyone's favourite orphan? AU from end of GoF. HP/GW and RL/NT and possible RW/HG and NL/LL.
1. Chapter 1 - A New Beginning

**Chapter 1 - A New Beginning**

* * *

><p>Sirius Black was not a happy camper. His godson, his best friend's own flesh and blood was lying in a hospital bed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, after a huge fight with the now returned Lord Voldemort, while Albus Dumbledore had ordered him out of there to contact the old members of the Order of the Phoenix, and then he was told to stay at his friend Moony's whilst Harry 'recovered' from his ordeal.<p>

The dog-like growl that escaped his throat was justified in his opinion. The physical wounds would heal overnight thanks to Madam Pomfrey, but he couldn't help Harry recover emotionally while he was ordered into hiding with Remus. So it was with a heavy heart that he knocked on his friend's door later that night.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Moony. It's Padfoot."

The rough scraping of a chair was all the indication that Sirius needed to know of his friend's eagerness to see him. Quickly the door was unlocked and he felt himself swept inside and into a _*cough* manly *cough*_ hug.

"Padfoot, what are you doing here?"

"You haven't heard already?"

"No … What's going on?"

"Blimey Remus, I don't know where to start"

"Just give me a rough outline"

"You know that Harry was entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament right?"

"Right"

"Well the last challenge was a maze of sorts, and the tournament winner would be the one who touched the Tri-Wizard cup at the centre of the maze. Harry got there at the same time as the Diggory boy, but the Diggory boy was injured, so Harry told him to take the cup at the same time and draw"

"I really don't see the problem with this, unless you're just afraid that Harry has some of Lily in him, and not just James"

"NO! Remus let me finish" Sirius gulped, which meant that he was nervous about this? Remus couldn't quite place how his friend was feeling, so he led him to one of the chairs, and they set down facing each other. Waiting for Padfoot to continue. When he did, his voice seemed hoarser than usual.

"Remus … The cup was a portkey. It took them to a graveyard, and …" Sirius had to stop to take a deep breath. Never a good sign. "Wormtail was waiting for them"

"WHAT!"

"He killed the Diggory boy, right in front of Harry, and stole Harry's blood. Remus, Voldemort's back"

Remus Lupin sank into his chair, looking deflated. Both men wound up sleeping in those positions.

…

The first thing Remus Lupin did when he awoke was to check on his friend, cooking Bacon in his kitchen. He sat in one of the kitchen chairs surrounding the island he had in the kitchen, and went through all of the information that Sirius had told him the night before. His thoughts were interrupted by the soft tapping of an owl on the kitchen window. Dutifully he crossed the room to allow it in, and it landed next to the pile of bacon that Sirius had just finished cooking. Remus removed the letter and gave the owl a piece of bacon; it let out a very dignified hoot, and left through the open window.

"Who's the letter from?"

"Dumbledore"

He couldn't help but see the flicker of rage that Sirius showed, but he pressed on anyway.

"He says that he's going to send Harry back to the Dursley's tomorrow on the train, so that he can spend the day with his friends, before going home in order to heal, and that we're not to worry"

The snarl that left Sirius' throat was unmistakable.

"Something bothering you Padfoot?"

"BOTHERING ME? NO, IT'S ONLY MY GODSON, OUR FRIEND'S SON THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THERE! IT'SS NOT AS THOUGH HE'S GOING TO NEED US, AND NEED HELP, BUT AS LONG AS HE'S WITH HIS FAMILY THAT BEATS AND STARVES HIM, HE SHOULD BE FINE! AFTER ALL DUMBLEDORE SAID NOT TO WORRY!"

"PADFOOT CALM DOWN!"

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! I'M GOING TO DUMBLEDORE AND IM GOING TO …"

"DO NOTHING!"

That stopped Sirius dead, the volume of his voice dropped, but that canine growl was still there.

"Moony, this is James' kid. I will not stand by and do nothing just because Dumbledore says so"

"I'm not saying do nothing. What I'm saying is that you contacted all of the old members of the Order last night, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So why don't you and I explain the situation to Arabella, and see if she can help us out for the summer?"

"But Moony that's … that's …"

"Genius? Yes, I do think so myself. Now come on, let's get dressed, we'll go when we've washed."

They both stood up to go change and wash in different rooms, when Sirius' soft voice called out,

"Moony"

"Yes, Padfoot"

"Thank you"

"For Harry, anytime".

…

The car ride back to Number 4 Privet Drive was undertaken in complete silence by Harry Potter. He had only acknowledged his Uncle Vernon on the platform, and had not uttered a word since. For a normal boy this would've been considered strange behaviour, and a concerned guardian would've attempted to help out such a person. But the Dursleys were not concerned, as the boy was a freak to them. All the while, the boy's internal guilt party continued.

_Cedric. I'm so sorry. It was all my fault. I should've taken that damn cup myself. I should've pushed him out of the way, or disarmed Wormtail. Voldemort's back and it's all my fault._

When he eventually realised that the car was slowing down, he looked up, expecting to see the familiar pristine lawn and flowerbeds that was Privet Drive. What he did not expect to see was Remus Lupin leaning against the low garden wall of number four.

"Who the hell is this shoddy fool?" Uncle Vernon's face began its' journey through the colour spectrum.

"Stay in the car"

"Wait just a damn minute BOY!" Harry had already left the car, and was walking towards Remus, who smiled faintly.

"Harry, it's good to see you again". He leant in for a hug, and was surprised to feel a wand sticking into his throat. He managed to rasp out "Harry …"

"What form does my patronus take?"

"A stag"

"Why?"

"It was James' animagus form. It's also why we called him Prongs"

He felt Harry's wand being lowered before he was pulling Harry into a hug, and felt Harry shake slightly at the contact.

The brief moment was of course interrupted.

"BOY! What's going on?"

Remus heard Harry groan, before releasing him and making his way towards the Dursleys. Straightening his robes as he walked, as Uncle Vernon straightened himself up.

"Good afternoon Mr and Mrs Dursley. My name is Professor Remus Lupin. I am the director of extra-curricular and discipline at Mr Potter's school. I have been informed that you may prefer for Mr Potter to take on extra work, outside of the house, during the school holidays, so that he may gain extra credit towards his end of year examinations. Is this correct?"

Vernon glanced towards Petunia, and she inclined her head slightly.

"Let's say yes. We are all interested"

"Excellent! Starting tomorrow I will be here at half past seven in the morning to collect the boy, he will then remain with me for the duration of the day. I will return him later that night at roughly half past ten; breakfast, lunch and dinner will all be included. This includes week-ends. Are there any objections? Judging by the shaking of your heads, I will take that as a no. I will see you tomorrow Mr Potter, all of your school items will be required, and they may remain with me for the time being. Good day Mr and Mrs Dursley"

With that, he turned on his heel and left.

"Well Boy, get your things and get inside NOW!"

That night, Harry Potter slept normally, but when he awoke, he felt anticipation and a small amount of dread, thinking Remus was serious about the work.

…

At seven o'clock the following morning, Harry woke up and jumped in the shower, before pulling on some ratty jeans, a much-too-big t-shirt and some worn sneakers. He checked to see that all of his things were in his trunk, and his wand was in his pocket. He had just finished when he heard Uncle Vernon answer the doorbell.

"BOY!"

Hefting his trunk up, he trudged down the stairs to see Lupin stood in the doorway.

"Come on now Mr Potter, follow me and don't lag behind"

Getting more upset over Remus' seeming lack of care, he followed him out of the door and up the street, trunk in hand, and eventually the rounded the corner onto Wisteria Walk.

"Professor, I …"

"Not yet Harry"

Eventually they stopped outside the house of Mrs Figg, which confused Harry as much as the large black dog that jumped up at him and landed on top, pinning him down by his shoulders, before bounding into the house.

"Well Harry, should we?"

Nodding eagerly at Remus, Harry picked his trunk back up and followed him into Mrs Figg's sitting room, where Sirius stood waiting. Wordlessly, Harry dropped the trunk, and they both latched onto each other.

"I missed you"

"It's good to see you again Pup"

"Pup?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah, Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and Pup. At least until you get your own form"

"My own form? You mean you want me to become an animagus? I don't even know how"

"That's why we're here. Moony did mention the training right. We're both here to train you, and while she's taken a vacation to visit her sister, Mrs Figg said we could use her house"

"You know Mrs Figg"

"Yeah, she's only a squib though, but even so, while you're in her house you can perform magic undetected"

"Really?"

"Yes really. You're going to need all the help you can get to beat Voldemort"

It was at this, Harry blanched, and sensing his discomfort, both Moony and Padfoot sat their Pup down, and placed an arm around him. It was Remus that continued the conversation.

"We know you're taking his return hard, but you need to understand that Cedric already forgave you, and that he would've taken the cup with you regardless. We're here for you to talk to when you need us and to help you defeat Voldemort"

"Why does it have to be me?"

Hearing this question, they both shared a concerned and slightly angry glance, over the top of Harry's head.

"Dumbledore didn't tell you why?"

"Why it has to be me. No … what should I know?"

Sirius stood up shaking with fury.

"That rat BASTARD!"

"SIRIUS PLEASE!"

"Sorry Moony" he muttered, though he didn't seem very sorry. He resumed his seat next to Harry.

"Harry there was a prophecy made several years ago, about you and Lord Voldemort. The fact that Albus has never told you this is, well … it's quite frankly pissing us off. He should've told you by now. That's not to mention the one your Dad told us about"

"What are they?"

"Well the first one goes like this _… __The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..._"

Shaking slightly, Harry pressed on, "What's the one from my Dad?"

"The words were lost centuries ago, but the idea said that a there would one day be a powerful warrior of golden hair, that would emerge on the battlefield. His power is said to be unrivalled"

"Guys, you do realize I have black hair?"

"Yes Pup, we can see your hair, it's just that the last idea of the golden haired warrior is that he would have emerald eyes, and you are the first Potter male that your father knew of to have green eyes. Anyway let's eat, I'm sure you're hungry, and we need to discuss your training Pup"

…

"You can't be serious!"

"Yes we are Pup!"

"Yes Harry, that running and physical work will extend your stamina and strength, both useful in lengthy battles. The press-ups and sit-ups will help you control the strength, as well as the squats, which also help you build muscle faster. The food has already been worked out, and we have nutrient supplement potions, which should have you at a proper weight and physique by mid-August, at which point you should be able to go to the Burrow, as long as you continue your exercise"

"The spell work you'll do with both me and Moony in Charms and Transfiguration on alternating mornings, the afternoons will rotate between Potions and animagus training, with your evenings to focus on your dueling skills, and the occasional lesson in the mind arts."

"Guys, this is too much"

"Actually, we believe that you'll cope splendidly. Anyway let's get started"

"What? Now?"

"Yes now. There's no time like the present, so they say Pup"

Harry let out a groan. It was going to either be a very long or very short summer.

...

**AN**

A Few Points;  
>- The Golden Warrior is a bit of a rip from Dragon Ball Z's Super Saiyan in appearance, but that's all from DBZ.<br>-It's also obviously an AU starting with OotP.  
>-I'll admit it, I'm a fan of the HPGW pairing, I'm just trying to weave it in here, as she's supposed to be dating Michael Corner, though I may ignore that.  
>-I also don't like Ron, especially based on how he acts in GoF towards Harry, so be prepared.<p>

Please leave a review, with a suggestion for Harry's animagus form. I have several ideas here, you guys may help.

'Till next time.  
>MarvelMatt<p> 


	2. Chapter 2 - Grim Movement

**Chapter 2 - Grim Movement**

* * *

><p><em>LEFT. LEFT. LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT LEFT. LEFT.<em>

Repeating the mantra in his head allowed him to keep with the pace that Sirius was setting in canine form. _Having to keep up with a dog on two legs was really unfair, _but voicing that particular opinion just got him awarded with press-ups. Sirius was a strict, but fair physical trainer.

He had been back at Little Whinging for just over three weeks now, so the end of July heat was really setting up. It made the pain of the morning workout that bit less bearable, although he couldn't disagree with the results. He was still wiry and thin, but it was now solid muscle that he had, he arms were defined, but not bulky, his abs had some definition and his chest was also quite muscled.

They had just finished their fourth lap of the three kilometer park, and Harry stopped so that they could head back for breakfast, he had taken several steps when he felt a pull on his shorts. Sirius wanted a fifth lap. _Git_

…

Ginny Weasley sat at the antique desk that she had in her 'new' room. She was staring at the letter sitting on her desk. She had spent the last two hours writing it, wording it so that it was direct enough to slap some sense into him, _figuratively, though she may get Fred and George onto that_, without being directly insensitive.

Standing, she headed down the stairs towards the second floor, where her dear brother Ronald was moping about and muttering about Harry's fame and money. It was rather pathetic really. They had made up after the First Task, and were fine during the Second Task, but then everything had gone wrong, Ron and Hermione were arguing over Viktor Krum, then they had to work together to help Harry with the Third Task, and had started to get along, and then Harry had dueled Voldemort in the graveyard, Cedric had died, Harry made the papers again, and all Ron cared about was that Harry once again, had the spotlight on him. Anyone with any amount of intelligence could tell that Harry despised the attention that he was given, then again, that excluded Ron. Reaching his door, she knocked.

"Who's there?"

"Ginny"

"What do you want?"

"I want to borrow Pigwidgeon"

"Why?"

"Because I think he'd look lovely on my windowsill, what do you think? I want to send a letter"

"Who to?"

"That's none of your business"

"Then you can't borrow my owl"

"RONALD WEASLEY! That's no way to treat your sister. Apologize to her now!" She loved that her Mum had a terrible sense of timing, she always happened upon them when they were arguing.

"Dammit!" He muttered, "I'm sorry Ginevra, here's MY owl, now please go away". He said that last part as he opened the door and thrust the owl into her chest.

"Why thank you Ronald"

She watched him slam the door and heard some muttering that she couldn't distinguish, before bouncing up the stairs, attaching her letter to Pig, and throwing him out the window. She watched the owl until he was a tint speck on the sunny horizon, before hearing her mother call her down for dinner.

…

It was also dinner time at Number 7 Wisteria Walk, where Harry Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin sat down to a well prepared, if light meal.

The cooking had been a mystery to Harry, until he caught a glimpse of Sirius talking to Dobby, where it was revealed that Dobby and Winky's magic was failing them, and that to keep going they had to bind themselves to a witch or wizard. Naturally Dobby had wanted to serve 'The Great' Harry Potter, and Winky had followed him. Though it was a little unnerving at first, he had quickly warmed to the idea of two unseen helpers, especially since they could cook. He still allowed them to wear clothes and mandated that they take a day off each month, but other than that, they were his house elves.

It was Sirius that broke the amiable silence.

"So Pup, you excited yet?"

"What for?"

The look of disbelief between the two adult wizards could not be missed.

"It's your fifteenth tomorrow!"

"I know, and it's great that you guys are here, but I really don't see it as a big deal"

"But … Gringotts!"

"The bank? What's so special about that?"

"You don't know. Of course you don't, Dumbledore failed to mention that. When a young wizard turns fifteen, it's tradition to visit the family vault. Normally the head of house does it, but Moony and I have decided to take you jointly"

"What's so special about my vault? I've seen it before; it's not a huge thing"

"Actually pup, you've only seen the trust vault, that vault is set up to refill with five thousand galleons per school year, but your family vault is many times bigger, it will also hold trinkets, the likes of family jewelry and art"

"Seriously? Can we go?"

"Calm down pup. You've made extreme progress in your lessons, you've mastered spells that normally take weeks to master in days, and you can now fight Remus to a draw every time, if not a win, so yes we can take a day off"

The exclamation of joy that Harry let out and the huge grin on his face made up for the loss of the day, in Sirius and Remus' eyes.

…

The frantic _tap tap tap_ on the window woke Harry, a half hour earlier than he would've liked, but he was in much better shape nowadays, and so was much more alert. Recognizing the owl as Ron's, he was quite glad to have some form of communication from his best friend, but was not put out when he realized that the letter was Ginny's. The scent of her floral perfume gave that away instantly. Curiously, he opened the envelope.

_Dear Harry_

_I know that you've no reason to expect a letter from me, but I thought I'd right you one anyway since it seems as though Ron's not going to. Dumbledore stopped by the other day, after a meeting (if you don't know what this is, ask Professor Lupin, he's supposed to be in Little Whinging). Anyway, he asked me, Ron and later Hermione, to not send you any mail, as you need time with your family to 'heal'. They both seem to think that you need to be alone._

_Dragon. Dung._

_I know you, and I also know Tom Riddle. And you won't admit to it but both of you are quite similar, you're both parselmouths, gifted wizards, AND have abusive backgrounds. The only difference being that you have been able to love other people from your upbringings, Sirius, Hermione, us Weasleys, and even though you hate those muggles for everything they've done to you, you'd never intentionally hurt them back._

_That's why you're different to Voldemort. You have a heart._

_That's also why you need to get out of the depression you're in. I know you'll have nightmares, like I do from the Chamber, but you need to accept that Cedric willingly took that Cup with you. NOT FOR YOU. If we manage to see you soon, you better have forgiven yourself or I'll hex you._

_Love from,_

_Ginny_

_P.S. Mum's harping on about your fifteenth and that you won't be here, so be prepared for that bone splitting hug when you next see her._

Harry felt a familiar pang of guilt after finishing reading, _she has nightmares_, but then he grinned in spite of himself, that letter was truly Ginny, the feisty red-head, who takes no crap. _Wait - feisty? Where did that come from? _Ignoring that, he began to start his day in the shower.

…

The marble institute that was Gringotts Bank, looked as impressive as ever, as Harry, Remus and Snuffles the dog entered the goblin home. The brass tiers and high counters made the goblins seem more imposing, not that the sharp teeth didn't. Harry headed for the nearest open teller and was surprised to see Griphook, the goblin that usually escorted him to his vault.

"Good morning Griphook"

Griphook blinked twice in shock

"Good morning Mr. Potter. I must say I am surprised that you know me"

"Why wouldn't I know you, you usually escort me to my vault, number 687"

"Yes I remember, the Potter Trust Vault. I trust that you are here to enter your Potter Family Vault for the first time"

"I am. I also require a private meeting, with my … estate manager?"

"That would be with Sharptooth, he's through the large doors, second on the left"

"Thank you Griphook"

Harry left to follow those directions unaware that he had just done more single handedly for wizard/goblin relations, than the Ministry had in the last two hundred years.

…

Sharptooth was a rather well … sharp dressed Goblin. His suit was immaculate, and he had an air of class about him. He managed to seem as though he was leering and not-leering simultaneously over his desk towards Harry and Remus.

"What can I do you Mr. Potter?"

"I'd like a list of all my assets from my family vault, as well as my trust vault to be emptied and placed there"

"Here's the list" was Sharptooth's reply, as he handed over a small folder. "Is that all? Or does Mr. Black need to see me also?"

Without waiting for a cue, Sirius transformed and sat down on the back of Harry's chair.

"Mr. Potter would like an everlast sack, as well as a muggle debit card"

"And here they are. The everlast sack pulls the gold you need from your now single vault, and the card is charged through the Royal Bank of Scotland, and your account. Be aware that you are currently the richest man under age in magical Britain. Would you like to follow Pinchfoot there to the cart and access your vault? "

"Thank you for your time Sharptooth"

"Not at all Mr. Potter. Not at all"

…

"Here we are Mr. Potter, Vault 939; Potter Family Vault"

The entrance to the vault itself was much grander than the normal vault Harry used. The door was decorated with images of swords, wands and lions, and in one of the corners somebody, probably his dad, had engraved a wolf, dog, rat, stag and doe. He couldn't help but smile at that. Sirius noticed his grin and followed his line of sight.

"James had most of that added at the end of his fifth year by your grandfather; the doe was added after he married Lily"

"The Marauders acting as guardians?"

"Yes, well, when we were in school, most of our pranks were aimed at Slytherins after seeing them bullying younger students"

"Why not just report them?"

"Because their head of house was essentially the same as Snape, and we could never prove it, though we think that's why McGonagall made James head boy"

"McGonagall knew?"

"Everyone knew, we used to leave the image of one of our animagus forms on the wall. They knew it was us, they could just never prove it"

"Sound advice". Sirius let out a bark-like laugh and pulled Harry into a hug.

"That's my boy. Now open your vault"

"How do I do that? I don't have a key?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter", Pinchfoot had walked over to a small basin, sticking out from the wall, "simply place your hand in the liquid, and it will allow your magical signature to enter the vault, as well as anyone you want to let in. The current entry list is Harry James Potter, Sirius Orion Black, Remus John Lupin, Peter Samuel Pettigrew, and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Would you like to add anyone else?"

"Can you remove Pettigrew?"

"Yes, simply place your hand back in, and remove him using the words"

"The words? What are they?"

"They'll come to you Pup"

Exhaling deeply, Harry placed his hand into the basin, and allowed himself to be taken over.

"I, Harry James Potter, do hereby designate that Peter Samuel Pettigrew is to be removed from any holding regarding access to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, as is my right _Fortitudo, Fides , Honora"_

The clear liquid glowed brightly for a second, before fading out, and into the torch glow of Gringotts, the engraved rat on the door had disappeared, and a shapeless lump was in place instead. Though paws and a tail could be seen, Remus apparently found it quite interesting.

"Well Cub, it seems as though the door is responding to your own training, I think that when you make the transformation, you should appear on the door"

"Leave it Moony, the Pup should already be in the vault, it is after all why we're here"

"You right, of course Padfoot, I'm just curious to know what the animal is, after all, Cub won't tell us"

"Guys, I'll tell you tonight, I've just been learning about the animal, but I need you two to tell me the meaning, but I will say that cub is more accurate than pup". With that Harry walked past them and into his vault.

…

The vault itself was extremely impressive, no to mention enormous, and strangely, extremely tidy. Pinchfoot showed him an extra room that was brimming with gold, but the main area was extremely organised, unlike his trust vault. The back of the vault was like a miniature library, with books on several topics stacked by subject and title. The left side was a fairly small clothing area with standard dress robes of all sizes, each with the Potter Family Crest sewn over the left breast pocket. The right side of the vault held several tables laden with mannequin heads and assorted jewellery, but Harry was drawn to a set of small boxes and an attached letter, with emerald cursive on top. _For Harry. Sirius and _Remus stared at the writing in shock, and it was with trembling hands that Harry opened the letter, and began to read out loud.

_Harry_

_If it comes down to it, the protection on us has failed and your father and I are both dead. I hope you don't have to read this, as we should be able to tell you in person, but Harry._

_We are so proud of you._

_No matter what you are doing, we love you and have always wanted what was best for you. _

**_Also son, if Padfoot's there, tell him Prongs says hello, and he best be taking good care of you. If not, we'll be waiting for him._**

Sirius chuckled at this.

_Ignore him, he's just being dramatic, but Sirius better be taking good care of you, or he'll have ME to answer to._

It was Remus' turn to chuckle as Sirius paled slightly.

_We decided to leave this letter here, just so that you have some piece of us with you when you're older, though a grandchild with my name wouldn't be too bad either._

**_Or mine, though they'll have to be able to play quidditch._**

_For some life advice, we just want to say, find something that you love and do it. There's enough money made from interest that you pretty much do whatever you want._

**_For some love advice, all I have to say is that, find someone who loves you for you, and isn't in it for the money. If the Potter Family Curse continues, she's destined to have red hair though._**

A brief image of someone with cascading deep red hair and a sweet smell crossed his senses, but the sniggering of his two minders brought him back to Earth. They shared a knowing look and he continued with his reading.

**_There was also a prophecy made about you and Voldemort. If Sirius hasn't told you by now, hex him, and ask Dumbledore, he's the only other one who knows the wording. Get one of them to tell you about the Golden Warrior as well._**

_Just always remember that we love you, and stay out of trouble._

**_Or at least use the cloak and the map._**

_Ignore that last part dear,_

_Lots of love_

_Mum **and Dad.**_

**_P.S. Use the box well_**

With silent tear tracks on his face, he placed the letter onto the small table, and flipped open the box, his minders gasped when they saw what was there, and even though he'd never seen them before, he knew that they were his parent's wedding rings, as well as his mum's engagement ring.

…

The remainder of their time at Gringotts was spent browsing his other items. He'd taken a small emerald necklace, several of the books, and a pair of dress robes in his size, as Sirius insisted.

They left later that day, Harry feeling slightly lighter after reading the letter from his parents, and silently vowing to return one day for the rings.

...

**AN**

The animagus form will be revealed next chapter. Any guesses?  
>The hardest question I have now, is how to set up HPGW in good detail. As well as Ron's reaction. (I still don't like Ron)(I may even kill him later).  
>Do you guys think we should see Harry at HQ for his birthday, or just with Moony and Padfoot?<p>

'Till next time  
>MarvelMatt<p> 


	3. Chapter 3 - Friends and Festivities

**Chapter 3 - Friends and Festivities**

It was just before lunch when Harry Potter, Remus Lupin and a heavily glamoured Sirius Black left Gringotts Wizarding Bank. They walked straight down Diagon Alley; not stopping to glance in any shop window, for fear that someone would recognise Sirius. It was only once they had passed through the Leaky Cauldron that they stopped to take a breather.

Their stop was cut short when Moony walked off and Sirius shoved Harry after him, with himself following behind Harry. They marched him up to end of one very expensive looking street, and into Harrods Department Store, where they were immediately accosted by a very perky young woman.

"Hello there sirs, and welcome to Harrods Department Store, London. How can I be of assistance today?"

Sirius, currently sporting mid length, swept blonde hair, intercepted Harry before he could excuse them from her perkiness. The young blonde lady was decidedly taken with Sirius' appearance.

"Well, this here is my brother, and this," he said whilst pointing at Harry, "is our nephew. He's in need of a whole new wardrobe, and I mean whole. Shirts, t-shirts, trousers, jeans, shoes, work-out clothes, trainers, socks and underwear". The saleswoman, whose nametag identified her as Jenny, caught his eye as Sirius said the last part, causing Harry to blush furiously. "Also, money is no issue, as I'll be paying for it all, though we are in need of fashion advice".

That last comment had caused a gleam to appear in Jenny's eyes, as she began to look at Harry as though he was her own personal dress-up doll. Harry started to protest, but Jenny led Sirius off, and Remus clamped an arm around Harry's shoulders, and steered him towards shirts.

…

The next three hours were rather bittersweet for Harry. On one hand, he now had a lot of well-fitting clothing in colours that apparently 'accentuated' his hair and eyes. On the other hand, he was being used as a personal doll for Jenny. Not to mention that he and Remus were getting tired if the constant flirting between her and Sirius. It seemed that the old dog remembered his tricks.

It was only after they marched him to the underwear section and bought him green silk boxers_, to match his eyes *cough* gits *cough*_, that they headed to a till, so that they could pay for his clothes. The several thousand pounds worth of clothing was scanned and totalled, before Sirius shrugged off Harry's concerns and presented his new RBS debit card, which to Harry's amusement held the name Stubby Boardman. Sirius flirted again, so that Remus could shrink several of the bags, and they all headed to the stores back alley, before apparating back to Little Whinging.

…

Ignoring the fuzzy sensation in his ears that came from side-along apparition Harry took out the small bags he had, and enlarged them back to normal size, seeing Remus and Sirius doing the same. He was about to ask where to take them when Sirius pointed to the couch.

"Sit"

Sitting in the indicated position, Harry looked up at his current guardians, before Dobby and Winky walked in, carrying a rather large chocolate cake between them, blinking furiously, Harry stayed silent as the four of them sang happy birthday to him, and he felt a strange feeling in his chest, and he knew that this, is what family felt like.

Standing as they finished, he blew out the candles before pulling Sirius and Remus, and then Dobby and Winky into crushing hugs.

"All right Pup, time for presents!"

"Guys you didn't have too …"

"We know Pup, but a gift is given because we want to give it, not because we have to"

Harry just nodded, not trusting his words.

…

He took his time with his gifts, and enjoyed opening them, especially loving Dobby's reaction to Harry opening his socks from the tiny elf. One was green with a hippogriff running down it, and the other was dark grey with a horntail. He pulled the elf into a hug, and later Winky, when he opened his matching tie.

Ron and Hermione had both sent him Honeyduke's Best Chocolate, without a note, which infuriated Harry, as they had still not sent him a letter. He then resolved to reply to Ginny's letter that evening.

Ginny's gift was a new muggle watch, to replace the one he had damaged during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, along with a note saying "Happy Birthday Harry".

Mr and Mrs Weasley had sent him the usual baked goods, and Dumbledore had sent him back the Marauder's Map, which fake Moody had taken last year, as well as a note telling him not to send any letters, as Hedwig was too noticeable. Hedwig, who had appeared with the note hooted indignantly as Harry soothingly, stroked her feathers.

Fred and George had apparently teamed up with Bill and Charlie to get him dragon hide boots, which the note said came from a Hungarian Horntail. They had been charmed to be silent, no matter the terrain, as well as always fitting.

Hagrid had sent him a wicked looking knife, which was roughly the length of his forearm, which a dragon hide holster. The knife itself was Goblin-made.

Lastly, he was presented with Sirius and Remus' gifts, which had evidently been purchased with his training in mind. From Remus he received the 'Battle Series' by Clarence Pratt, which consisted of 'Battle Hexes', 'Battle Charms', 'Battle Transfiguration' 'Battle Brews' and 'Battle Strategies', as well as a wand holster for his forearm, which was charmed to appear invisible to everyone but him. Sirius had bought him a seven compartment trunk, which was identical to the one 'Mad-Eye' Moody had, except it was less worn.

"It's got seven compartments, we managed to fill some of them Pup. You've got a common room, duelling room, potions lab, a bathroom including bath, shower and hot tub, a spare bedroom, a study and a library. We've left one of the rooms empty, so that you can fill it with whatever you want. All it needs now is a password to lock and unlock it. Well Pup, what do you think?"

Blinking again to dispel any tears, he once again pulled the two men into a hug. Words were not needed in that moment, shared between the three men.

…

Writing Ginny's response was quite easy for him, and it allowed him to vent some of his frustrations and a little bit of his guilt, he finished her letter and sealed it shut.

Hedwig held her leg out to attach the letter, but waited, allowing Harry time to apply a glamour to her, making her look like a common barn owl.

She took off through the parlour window, and Harry sighed, before standing up and allowing Padfoot to walk him back to number four.

…

Ginny Weasley was sat in her room, reading Hermione's Transfiguration text book. Hermione had arrived yesterday, and had been put in the room next to her. She had then immediately gone off to find Ron, and since then, whenever she walked into a room, they stopped talking, which either meant they were talking about her, or they didn't want her to know what they were talking about, which more than likely meant Harry.

Harry James Potter.

The Boy-Who-Lived.

Everyone knew that she'd had a huge crush on the legend since she was six years old, and it had only gotten worse when she'd actually met him. For her first two years, she'd never been able to talk to him, and Ron had tried to keep them separated, and so, her crush had died out.

Then she entered her third year, and Harry had entered the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The crush had come back, only this time, it was different. She'd never believed that he'd entered the tournament willingly, but he had looked impressive during the First Task.

The Yule Ball had been a disappointment, she'd slightly hoped Harry would ask her, but then said yes to Neville anyway, and when Ron had suggested that she go with Harry, SHE had to be the one to say no. She'd eventually spent the night with Michael Corner, and while they were still on good terms, they weren't yet dating.

The Second Task just kicked it into overdrive as Harry fought the merpeople for both hostages, even though he didn't have too.

Seeing him in the Hospital Wing after the Third Task was much easier, as he looked so much more peaceful when he was sleeping. She could still picture his face …

_Tap. Tap. Tap. _A brown owl was at her window. Closing the Transfiguration text book, she opened her window, and the owl flew to her desk, and landed next to her perfume, sticking its leg out. She retrieved her letter, and recognised the hand writing.

"Hedwig?"

The owl just hooted.

Looking closer, Ginny could see black flecks and the same amber eyes Hedwig had, so either it was an extremely good likeness, or Harry had charmed it. She decided on her course of action. She was going to read the letter.

_Dear Ginny_

_I don't know where to start with this. I'm sorry that you had nightmares over the Chamber, and that I never made an effort to get closer to you that year. Maybe if we'd been talking, you wouldn't have felt the need to write in the diary at all._

_Typical Harry_, Ginny thought, _I send him a letter and he feels guilty._

_The owl that's brought the letter is Hedwig; I've just put a glamour charm on her, as snowy white stands out too much._

_Remus is here with me, and so is his dog, they've been great and helped me come to terms with what happened that night. I still have nightmares, but they are helping me work through them. They've got me on a training regiment, including animagus training; I hope to have made some headway by the time school starts again._

_Thank you for the watch; I really needed a new one after last year. I actually spent the day with my 'uncles', and they took me to my family vault at Gringotts. I managed to find some of my parent's things in there. I also want to say thanks for writing to me, if Ron can't be bothered, well I'm not going to write first, and Hermione will only do what Dumbledore tells her, as he's so perfect. Please note the sarcasm._

_I really would like to get to know you better, so if you decide you want to keep writing to me, I'd like that. I thought we could ask and answer questions via owl. Here I'll start._

_What's your;  
>Favourite colour?<br>Favourite quidditch team?  
>Favourite drink?<em>

_Mine are red and green, Puddlemere United (family tradition), and light butterbeer._

_Hoping to hear from you soon,_

_Your friend (hopefully)  
>Harry<em>

_P.S. I think I'll be allowed to visit for your birthday. If not, Hedwig will bring your present._

After reading her letter, Ginny decided that she would become friends with Harry, even if he never returned her affections, at least she'd be able to be close with him. Especially with the way Ron and Hermione were going on.

He needed people like Sirius and Remus in his life, someone he could have fun with. If she could, she'd be that person.

Picking up her quill, she began to write.

…

The next few days were great for Harry. Remus told him about Dumbledore's ire towards Sirius for not returning to headquarters, Sirius laughed at this greatly, and then told him of the Order's plans, as well as the order's location. Apparently Dumbledore placed the house under the Fidelius Charm, but Sirius had insisted he be the secret keeper, again to Dumbledore's ire.

Harry and Ginny had continued with their question game via Hedwig, who seemed grateful for the exercise. Harry also thought that Hedwig was very fond of Ginny, not that he could blame her. He now knew more about her than Ron and Hermione, and likewise had told her stuff that he hadn't told them.

Her favourite colour was green. She wanted to play chaser in quidditch when the older girls left, and her favourite quidditch team was the Holyhead Harpies, who she wanted to play for professionally. She preferred dogs to cats, adored Hedwig, and hated the way Mrs Weasley treated her like a baby.

They also spoke about their dreams. A better term would be nightmares. She wrote of the Chamber and a young Tom Riddle, and he had written about Cedric and his parents. Only after promising each other never to speak about this to anyone else. Though he was glad that she'd said she liked green, as it made him feel easier about her gift.

When he had mentioned the animagus training, Ginny had dropped not-so-subtle hints that she was interested, so Harry had Remus slip her some of the animal revealing potion and instructions when he went to headquarters, with Harry's promise of working with her at Hogwarts. His own animagus training had allowed him to already grow his tail, much to the disbelief of the Marauders. It had taken Sirius nearly four months to grow his tail. It had taken Harry four weeks.

As for the rest of his training, Harry was now up to eight laps of the park, and was going through the rest of the exercises easily. The slim but defined muscle was a huge improvement over his normal thin and wiry appearance. He was hopeful that Ginny would agree.

He had mastered his charms and transfiguration work that he'd been given. They couldn't fault his potions and he was now duelling three opponents simultaneously.

Yes three.

Nymphadora Tonks was Sirius' cousin, and it seemed old Moony was over the moon for her. Not that he'd admit it, she had agreed to help them with a special project and was shocked to find out she'd be duelling with Harry Potter.

She was extremely deceitful. First of all her appearance changed with her will, and though she acted clumsy, she was extremely graceful, so much so that she'd been dodging all of his spells with easy. When he'd asked her to teach him how she did it, she told him she'd train him, only if he did exactly what he was told.

Which was how he found himself dancing with her. Though he found it helped him with his dodging, he not forgiven her for the prank she'd pulled during the first lesson. They had been twirling on the floor, with Sirius and Remus watching from the side, when she'd dropped her height and changed her hair colour and appearance, from her usual pink. He'd promptly dropped her, and stormed out after the three of them began howling with laughter at his disposition.

That lunch when their salad began crawling in their stomach, they'd apologised profusely.

…

Though he'd managed to avoid talking about his animagus form so far, it couldn't be avoided, so after Tonks had left, to Remus' disappointment and Sirius' amusement, Harry sat them in the parlour and decided to tell them. He'd shown them his brown tail, with its black tip, and then to their amazement, grew his hair so that it surrounded his face.

The outright looks of shock on their faces were worth it.

After discussing his latest advancement, it was time for the question he really wanted to ask.

"What's the meaning of our animals?" It was Remus that answered.

"Well Wormtail was a rat, which represents negative aspects in life, as well as the diseased"

"Seems fitting"

"It is. That's the point. The animal is an extension of yourself. Your mother was a doe, which signified a gentleness, but with a demonic trait", which caused Sirius to snort, Remus was fighting a smile".

"What about dad?"

"Stags are representatives of wealth, which showed James' heritage. A dog signified intelligence, loyalty and friendship, which should've been an indication of Sirius' innocence"

"And me?"

…

He had barely been paying attention to the conversation between Remus and Harry, but it was probably better that he took the next question.

"Well you've started to become a lion. This is a particularly difficult creature, as it shows strength, assertiveness, courage and a relentless fighter"

"But that's all good qualities, right?"

Sirius sighed, "Yes Pup, but they can also mean personal power, predatory feelings, anger, aggression, and difficulty dealing with those emotions".

"Well that just sounds like me through and through, doesn't it?"

"You know it doesn't mean that Cub"

"If you'll excuse me, I should be getting back to Privet Drive"

"I'll walk you", Remus offered.

"No thanks, I'll go alone"

Silently, Harry picked up his jacket and left for Privet Drive, only realising too late what the chill in the air was.

...

**AN**

So there it is, Harry's animagus is a lion.

So what will Ginny's be? - NOT a lioness

And where will it go from here?

'Till Next Time  
>MarvelMatt<p> 


	4. Chapter 4 - Runs and Reflections

**Chapter 4 - Runs and Reflections**

Was it wrong for him to have some kind of sick joy from the dementors? Sure, they made him relive his parents' deaths, but he could finally hear them again, and they were getting louder, and clearer. Maybe he should just continue to listen to them.

Would anyone care if he did?

_SHUT UP!_

Of course they would, he had Moony and Padfoot, The Weasleys, even Tonks, and well … _her_.

The image of her was all he needed.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Prongs burst from his wand tip, and danced across the sky, but it was wrong. The dementors were on both sides, he needed more help …

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A second stag charged past Harry and charged down the other dementors. He heard his name being called. He was safe, Moony had arrived, but he was so tired. The small army had now fled. He dropped his patronus.

The world went to black.

…

The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix was used by so many people that Ginny had stopped keeping track, because she honestly didn't care, Harry had said he'd fill her in soon enough, so she was content to wait and ignore the whispers.

"That's right Alastor … Potter boy …"

"I heard … Patronus … expelled …"

"Lupin tried … hearing … twelfth…"

_What's going on? It sounds as though Harry's in trouble. I wonder if Remus is here._

Entering the kitchen, under the pretext of helping her mother with making dinner, she began to set the table, and noticed Sirius, Remus and Kingsley Shacklebolt having a discussion in low tones. Making her way round, she caught the eye of Sirius, who looked at her _appraisingly?_ Eventually she got close enough to whisper, without risking detection from her mother.

"What happened to Harry?" The three shared a look, before Sirius turned to face away from her, and muttered,

"Attacked by dementors. He's coming here tonight, he'll give you details"

"WELL, unfortunately Molly, I can't stay for dinner, I have to go into the office", Shacklebolt used his loud voice to cover Ginny's squeal over Harry's attack, "I'll see you all later", and with that he stood up to leave.

…

It was close to seven o'clock when a very cold, very tired and very wet Harry Potter drudged through the doorway of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. He seemed rather downtrodden, but his face brightened upon seeing Sirius, Remus and Ginny all waiting for him. The two older men gave him brief hugs before she threw her hands around his neck, and leant close to his ear,

"Are you alright?"

He just inclined his head slightly. Just enough to say to her "I'm fine".

"Ginny, why don't you show Harry to his room, it's the one directly above yours"

"Sure. Come on Harry"

He picked up his new trunk and began to pull it upstairs, following Ginny up three flights, before she stopped,

"I just need to grab something - wait here"

He saw her disappear into one room, which was presumably hers. He thought he had managed to get a glimpse of a flying Gwenog Jones on the wall. Seconds later she returned with a familiar snowy owl on her shoulder.

"Hedwig!" The owl jumped from Ginny to Harry and bit his ear affectionately.

"I had Sirius turn her back to normal when he got here. I thought you might like to see her"

"I did. Thank you". She beamed at him.

"Come on, your rooms upstairs"

…

His room was well … HUGE. It was much bigger than the one Ginny had, and it was so determinedly different to the rest of the house. Instead of the dreary black and green walls, they had been painted a bright red, his bed was a king size version of his Hogwarts bed. The black drapes had been swapped out for red and gold. The gas lamps had been removed, with bright white candles in place, the ceiling was painted pale gold, with bright red carpet and deep mahogany furniture.

"Wow, Harry this is pretty awesome"

"I know. It's huge"

"Mum tried to claim the master bedroom upstairs for her and dad, but Sirius kicked her out, so she claimed this one and Sirius kicked her out again. She was furious. Sirius hacked her off more by adding extension charms to the room. Kreacher helped"

"Kreacher?"

"The house elf. He's dead now. Suicide. Even that made mum mad"

"Sorry"

"Wasn't your fault. To tell you the truth, it was pretty funny. I don't think she's forgiven Sirius yet. It does make some of the meals interesting"

"I'd like to see that"

"Just wait, now that you're here, the second the Order's mentioned, she'll flip a lid"

"Why?"

"Apparently, Sirius and Remus are pushing for you to be inducted. She's claiming that you can't because she's filing to become your guardian in the magical world, because Sirius can't"

"Sirius isn't my guardian"

"Since when?"

"Since we went to Gringotts and Sirius transferred my custody over to Remus and Tonks"

"Remus and Tonks?"

"Yep, I only really wanted Moony, but because he's a werewolf we needed a second name"

"So Tonks?"

"Yes, she's funny and Moony likes here. Plus she's Sirius' cousin, so it can't be contested by magical law. Anyway what's new with you?"

"Nothing really, I wanted to start my training, but with everyone popping in and out, I haven't even found time for it"

"Well I can help you when we get back to Hogwarts"

"I'd like that", she beamed at him, before pressing on, "so what happened? Sirius said you were attacked"

"Yeah, I was walking back to my Aunt and Uncle's when a couple dozen dementors attacked me. Remus managed to help me pull out our patronuses, and then I got a letter telling me I was expelled from Hogwarts"

"YOU'VE BEEN EXPELLED!"

"NO! No! I mean, not yet. I have a hearing on the twelfth now instead. Sorry to put a damper on your birthday"

"Stop apologising, it's not your fault"

"Sorry", she turned to glare at him, but burst into giggles at the sheepish look on his face, and for the first time since the attack, a smile fought its way onto his face.

…

The two spent another half hour mindlessly chatting on Harry's bed before Remus' head popped in, and told them it was time for dinner.

The dinner itself was quite satisfying, only Dobby and Winky's cooking was better than Mrs Weasley's. Not that he'd tell her that. He sat across from Remus and Sirius, and in between Ginny and Tonks.

After two helpings of homemade strawberry ice cream, Sirius gave him a wink, which was permission to do what he wanted.

"So what's Voldemort been up to?"

The effect was instantaneous. Ron and Hermione flinched at the top of the table, Mr Weasley crumpled his paper, Mrs Weasley dropped the stack of plates she was holding, and everyone stopped talking, so they could turn to face him. Sirius was trying to fight his grin, so it was Remus that took control.

"Well, so far he's only been making small moves, a recruitment here, a murder there, but nothing grand"

"Why not?" Harry plastered his innocent look onto his face. Inside Moony and Padfoot were dying from laughter at people's expressions.

"Well, we think Voldemort's after something. Something he didn't have last time. Were all on patrol at the Department of Mysteries, and we think he's afte-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Molly Weasley was red and shaking with fury, "that information is for members only, if you want him to know, he'll have to be inducted"

Harry straightened up.

"Good. If Voldemort's raising an army then I want to fight"

He almost missed the tiny nods Sirius and Remus gave him.

"Absolutely not! Sirius tell him, he's too young"

"Too young for what Molly? He's already fought and beaten Voldemort four times, which is four times more than you, I might add. He's done more than most of the Order. If he wants in, I say let him in"

"I refuse, I can object. Yes but Remus is willing to stand with me. That's two against one. Arthur?"

"I say no - he's still too young"

"OK, so two against two. Tonks?"

"Let him fight!"

"Three to two. Moody?"

"Yes"

"Four to two. Kingsley?"

"I will not fight with a child"

"OK, so four to three"

"I say no". All the heads turned to face Dumbledore, who had just walked in, "and I'm sure all of the Hogwarts professors will agree with me. Harry may NOT join the Order. He's too young for such violence"

"That didn't stop you from allowing him to compete in the Tri-Wizard last year"

"Be that as it may Sirius, I will not allow Harry to join"

Defeated, the conversations continued around the room, while Molly shot Sirius a smug look, which only he and Harry saw. Ginny shrugged apologetically, and before long Molly sent them all to bed.

Ron and Hermione didn't even stop to say goodnight.

…

Sitting on his bed, Harry called his magic forward, and his face was soon covered in his hair, whilst a tail flopped side to side. He began to focus on his hands, hoping that maybe, he'd manage to make a paw by September. Not that it would matter if he got expelled.

A small 'thud' brought him out of his reverie, followed by several footsteps, he could've gone back to bed, but his curiosity was peaked, he edged his door open slowly and headed for the kitchen. The sight made his heart drop.

Ginny was hunched over an obviously fresh cup of tea, with dried tear tracks on her cheeks. That was an alarm bell, in five years he'd never seen her cry. He didn't know what it was, maybe he knocked something, maybe she just happened to glance up, but they made eye contact, and he strode across the room to engulf her in a hug. There was no sobbing or weeping, words were not spoken, eventually she just stood up and went back to bed, leaving Harry slightly confused.

It took all Sirius had not to step out of the hallway and laugh at his godson, that would come later.

The next day, Ginny gave no indication that she'd even awoken that night.

…

The rest of the house unaware, Sirius and Remus continued with Harry's training, using the old drawing room, under the pretext of 'cleaning' or as Sirius joked 'de-Blacking'. Harry was running several miles now around the park opposite Grimmauld Place, his push-ups and sit-ups were barely stopping him; he'd stopped his nutrient potions, and was now successfully duelling Remus, Sirius and Tonks. He felt unbeatable.

Until 'Mad-Eye' Moody soundly beat him after less than three minutes.

Moody was only too happy to fight Harry at every opportunity, adding his own tips, tricks and spells that came with being an Auror. He even corrected how Harry held his wand, while grumbling about 'incompetent teachers'.

It took less than a week for Harry to beat him, and another to take on all four.

But with those days behind them, it was now the morning of the eleventh, the morning before his hearing with the ministry, and it was also Ginny's birthday.

He felt quite happy with his choice of gift; he'd picked it from Gringotts a while ago, and had Dobby hiding it at Hogwarts, so that she couldn't coerce It out of him. She had tried. Several times.

He awoke at six o'clock sharp and pulled on his shorts and t-shirt, and took his trainers in hand. He'd been tying them at the door, so as to not wake anyone, but as fate would have it, he ran straight into Ginny at the door.

Straight into her.

They tumbled for a minute before she landed on top of him, both immediately blushing, before the umbrella stand fell onto his head.

"ARE YOU OKAY!"

"Shh … you'll wake everyone up"

"Sorry … wait … where are you going?"

"For my morning run", she looked at him strangely, "What? It's good for you", he added defensively.

"I know that. But WHY are you doing it?"

"Stay in shape, helps with quidditch, maybe to help stop Voldemort from killing me". One thing he noticed for the first time was that she was the only member of her family that didn't flinch at the mention of Voldemort.

"Can I come?"

That wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting, "Sure, but not in your pyjamas". She rolled her eyes at that last comment.

"Five minutes". With that she slinked back up the stairs.

…

Harry had just finished adding the protein to two water bottles, when she reappeared. Decked out in similar clothing to his own, a green t-shirt, black shorts and trainers, his own t-shirt was red. Harry couldn't help notice that she had REALLY long legs.

"Ready Gin?"

"Ready". With that they crept past the portrait of Sirius' mother and headed out the door.

…

They were halfway around the park when they decided to engage in a conversation.

"How long have you been running for?"

"Since the beginning of the holidays. I hated it at first, but now I kinda like it. It's so calming"

"I get what you mean. It's just nice to be out of that house"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to do laps of the lake, if I go back to Hogwarts"

"WHEN you go back to Hogwarts". He just shrugged non-committedly. So she decided to change topics.

"How's your animagus form coming?"

"I managed to grow a mane, and you already knew about my tail, I started on my hand yesterday, but no progress yet. What about yours?"

"I haven't even managed to take the potion yet. The instructions Remus gave me said I needed six hours non-interrupted sleep"

"So take it at bed-time"

"I can't"

"Why not?"

"I keep having nightmares about the Chamber"

"I thought they'd stopped?"

"They come and go, I actually have an idea about them, but I wasn't sure if you'd like it"

"I want to back into the Chamber of Secrets"

If Harry's legs weren't used to running, he probably would've hit the floor at her last comment.

"What? Why?"

"I just need to see it again. I want closure"

"I get that Gin, it's just … I want to go with you"

"You don't have t-"

"I also want to show you my memory of it, if you're serious, we can borrow Dumbledore's pensieve, and I'll show you tomorrow, after my trial"

"Thank you". Her voice shaking as she said so, they finished two laps of the park in companionable silence, Ginny claimed desperate need of a shower after their third and left, so Harry did the next few in silence, before deciding it was a good time for breakfast.

…

Mrs Weasley had outdone herself for breakfast. There were mounds of Ginny's favourites everywhere, and for once, Ginny allowed herself to be doted on without complaint.

Fred and George had gone around putting candies in the various meals, so the people eating them became different animals for short periods, much to the delight of Sirius and the twins. Remus was not amused after being turned into a porcupine.

Bill and Charlie had stopped by to spend the day with Ginny, and Mr Weasley had left with the promise of leaving work early. Most of the Order's regular diners where there, including Tonks, which only added to Remus' embarrassment. In fact, only Ron and Hermione were missing.

Thinking no-one would notice, Harry crept up the stairs towards Ron's room.

…

Ron's door was ajar, which allowed Harry to see the unchanged décor. There was no Chudley Cannon Orange, or posters and pictures. The room was just the normal black and green. The room just seemed Moody and unkempt.

Surprisingly Hermione was in the room, and they were sat of his bed. Hermione was facing Ron, and Ron was gazing out of the window. They were quite clearly talking about something personal so Harry decided to make his presence known by knocking, causing Ron and Hermione to glare at him slightly. He frowned. Ron went back to staring at the window, so Harry decided to try Hermione.

"Breakfast's ready"

"We know"

"So … aren't you coming?"

"Why should we? It's only breakfast"

"It' Ginny's birthday. You should both be there"

"I don't think that's any of your business"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me clearly. You ignore us the entire time you're here, but on Ginny's birthday you decide to grace us with your presence"

"IGNORE YOU! YOU SPENT THE ENTIRE SUMMER IGNORING ME!" Harry took a few breaths to calm himself, "At least she had the decency to write to me. You were both so happy to ignore me for an entire month!"

"Well, she shouldn't have done that!"

"So that's supposed to make it all okay!?"

Ron turned to face him, "Fuck off Potter".

Harry was trembling with fury, but ran through his occlumency calming techniques, before turning around and storming back downstairs, still shaking.

...

**AN**

So Ginny's form has been chosen - to be revealed soon  
>It's not a lioness, but it is a type of cat.<p>

Harry's gift and hearing next chapter, as well as the argument fallout.

I know I'm anti-Ron, but I may write this as anti-Dumbledore also - still undecided.

-MarvelMatt

P.S. While researching cats for Ginny, I discovered that a Bobcat symbolises 'having a cloak of invisibility', I just thought I'd share.


	5. Chapter 5 - Memory Lane

**Chapter 5 - Memory Lane**

When Harry returned to the kitchen, the general assembly had moved from the kitchen to the fire place, so that they could all watch Ginny open her presents.

From what he could see, she'd received joke items from Fred and George, dragon-hide boots from Charlie, a book collection from Bill, both of who had taken the day off work, her parents had given her a bottle of perfume, Sirius and Remus had decided to buy her a Nimbus 2001, which she was obviously ecstatic about, to the displeasure of Mrs Weasley. Tonks, Shacklebolt and Moody had gone for duelling aids - a book on useful curses, a pocket sneakoscope and a wand holster, much like Harry's.

He took a seat next to Remus, who nudged him, silently asking about his shaking hands, he shrugged him off however, and Remus let the matter drop.

Tonks poked him in the back, and then nodded to the diminished pile of presents, reminding him that he'd left his with Dobby and Winky at Hogwarts.

Almost as though they were psychic, they apparated with a small _CRACK_, and they both bowed, brandishing the gist between them. He took it from them and smiled at them, they grinned back at him, before disapparating with another _CRACK_.

He looked up to see the group staring back at him.

"What? She kept trying to find her present, so I sent it to Hogwarts for safe keeping"

"How much time did she spend in your room 'looking' for it Pup?"

Harry and Ginny both blushed, before Harry passed her present to her.

"Happy birthday Ginny"

"Thank you Harry"

They all watched as she carefully pulled apart the wrapping, to find a plain black box, looking up, she undid the clasp on the front and pulled the lid back. She gasped at what she saw; sitting in the red velvet inlay was the silver necklace he'd taken from Gringotts on his birthday. It was a thin silver chain with a teardrop shaped emerald handing from it. It was beautiful.

Ginny walked over to Harry and placed her hands around his neck, he returned the hug, before Ginny ghosted her lips over his cheek, the slight contact was still enough to make him blush.

"Oi Potter, do we need to get involved over there?"

"BOYS! BE QUIET!"

Never had Harry been so happy to hear Mrs Weasley shout.

…

Dinner that night was a much more sombre affair, the hype from Ginny's birthday had worn off, and the gloom from Harry's impending trial had set in. Remus had been called in as a witness, which was helpful as he also had a superb knowledge of the law, due to his status as a werewolf. He would also be acting as Harry's guardian during the proceedings.

All day members of the Order had been stopping to tell him he'd be fine. It wasn't that he didn't believe them; he just wanted the whole thing to be over, but that didn't make sleep come to him any easier.

_He dreamt that he was in a long room, glittery orbs were on shelves all around him, he slithered forward towards, his goal set, he poked one of the orbs. It burned, the pain burned his head, he tried to scream, but there was no-one around. Pain was shooting through his head, he continued to screa-_

"-HARRY!"

He shot upright, his forehead on fire, he looked into the darkness and tried to make out shapes, but it was too blurry, reaching around, he eventually felt his glasses being forced onto his face, and looked up.

Stood around his bed were the concerned faces of Sirius, Remus and Ginny. Ginny was obviously the one who had handed him his glasses, as she was now sat on the edge of his bed. The shout had come from Sirius though, and he had gone chalk white, probably from shock.

"What happened Pup?"

"I don't know, I mean, I saw a room of 'glitter balls?' And then I hit one with my head, and it burnt, and it kept burning, and then you woke me up"

"Were these balls on shelves?"

"Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"Err … What have you told Ginny? About the _other _stuff?"

"Just that it exists, not the wording"

"YOU KNOW THE WORDS!?"

"Not now Gin, but yes"

"Well Pup, the room you saw was the hall of prophecy, that's where the only recorded copy of it exists"

"So why am I seeing it?"

"Because only those involved in a prophecy can take it from the shelves, and since the Ministry is so graciously ignoring Voldemort's return …"

"He wants me to get it for him" Harry finished.

The foursome stayed in silence for another few minutes, before Remus shooed them all out, so that Harry could get some rest.

…

Harry couldn't have felt any better if he'd tried. Ginny had liked his birthday present, Remus had accompanied him to the ministry for his trial in front of the Wizengamot, Fudge's entire reason for changing the hearing for a trial had come out, and the minister was now on very shaky ground, especially once the Prophet had published the transcript of Harry's trial.

Madam Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had agreed to look into the dementor attack in more detail and had offered him a favour as compensation of his ministry, which he had immediately called in. He wanted a trial for Sirius. Madam Bones had seemed a bit apprehensive, but had agreed nonetheless.

His spirits continued as Remus, once again recounted to Sirius, how Dumbledore had shown up halfway through the trial to help Harry, but he had been escorted out by a pair of aurors for making a commotion, and Remus had gone on to help him win the trial anyway.

Butterbeer was flowing, though Mrs Weasley was monitoring the Firewhiskey with a very watchful eye.

People kept coming up to him and offering their congratulations, as well as listening to Remus recount the tale of his court case. He'd been congratulated by nearly everyone present - Ron and Hermione steered clear of him, and he still didn't know why they were upset with him.

Other than that, Harry had never felt better.

Eventually, when the adults were all reasonably tipsy, Mungdungus Fletcher pulled out a wizarding wireless, and turned what was originally lunch into a small party. Harry had been pulled into the middle of the floor and had been there since.

Not for lack of trying. Every time he decided to stop dancing, someone new pulled him back; so far he'd danced with Tonks, Hestia Jones, Mrs Weasley, Emmeline Vance, and then Tonks again, before he finally managed to grab a drink, and sat down next to Sirius, who seemed to be the only completely sober adult there, though he suspected that was done to practice more than sense.

"Having fun Pup?"

"Minus the sore feet, yeah I am. You?"

"Not so bad, shame there's not enough alcohol for me to get drunk. Molly'd throw a fit". Harry laughed,

"Yeah Padfoot, I think she probably would"

The party continued before it began to wind down, and people began to feel tired, after Sirius called for one last song, Molly turned the dials so that it was a slow dance tune, naming it as one of her favourites, and she pulled Arthur onto the floor. Harry turned to look around.

As Molly and Arthur swayed on the spot, Sirius asked Hestia to join him, Tonks dragged Remus out, Daedalus Diggle was pulled on by Emmeline Vance, Ron was with Hermione and even 'Mad-Eye' was dancing with one of the older members. He caught Remus' eye, and smirked, nodding towards Tonks, and Remus did his best to remain composed, leaning down to whisper in Tonks' ear.

Harry closed his eyes, content with the way his day had gone.

That was, until he was jerked to his feet by Remus; pushed onto the dance floor, while Ginny was pushed into him by Tonks; both of them grinning madly as they danced away.

Harry and Ginny, both stood there awkwardly for a moment, before Sirius bumped him from behind, accidentally of course, so Harry held his hand out for a minute, before Ginny accepted. He stepped towards her and placed his hands on her hips, while hers snaked around his neck. He decided to ignore the matching grins that Sirius, Remus and Tonks had, as well as the glare he was receiving from Ron; and if they stayed there longer than the rest, well he didn't care.

That night, Harry slept well.

…

The following morning found everyone up for a late breakfast, and so, around ten o'clock, everyone was tucking in to a Full English, when the floo burst to life, and out walked Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape, the latter carrying Dumbledore's pensieve.

"Good morning to you all, I trust I find you well". Dumbledore seemed too cheery; Harry suspected he knew about the alcohol last night. "I must also offer congratulations to Remus and Harry, for handling his trial yesterday, as I was turned away, and also a belated happy birthday to Miss Weasley"

"Thank you professor"

"Not at all Miss Weasley. Now Mr Potter, I assume you know why I am here"

"I do professor, though I don't understand why you didn't come last night"

"Ah well, Professors McGonagall and Snape happened upon me, and informed me of their own desire to see what had transpired in the Chamber, with your permission, I would like to show everyone interested"

Harry spared a glance towards Ginny, who seemed slightly paler than usual, but she managed a small nod, which Dumbledore caught.

"Excellent, if those interested would join me in the parlour after you've all eaten"

The three professors headed out, while everyone looked towards him accusingly, "Cub, what's happening"

"Err … I wanted to go over my Chamber visit, to see if I missed anything, so I asked Professor Dumbledore if I could borrow his pensieve", Remus didn't look convinced, but dropped it.

"Well I'm in - Sirius?"

"Me too, it sounds pretty boring the way Harry describes it, so it's probably pretty awesome. Any other takers"

There were general murmurs of consent around the table, before Kingsley stood up, "I believe we're all going"

…

Harry was sat over the pensieve, pulling the memory out of his head, under Dumbledore's watchful eye. He dropped it into the murky blackness, and took a step back, allowing Dumbledore to cast several spells.

"Everyone, please. I have cast a rendition spell on the memory, so instead of us all attempting to enter the pensieve, the memory will be injected in three dimensions, please refrain from screaming, as it promises to be interesting. If you do not wish to view this, please leave now"

Harry looked around, the Weasleys minus Ron, where sat around the fire, Ron was with Hermione near the far wall, Sirius was beside him, Remus had joined Tonks, Shacklebolt and Moody near the centre of the room, and Snape and McGonagall were stood behind Dumbledore.

No-one left.

Dumbledore flicked his wand, and the room seemingly dissolved in blackness.

_The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least. "Blimey," said Ron weakly._

_There was a sudden movement behind them. Gilderoy Lockhart's knees had given way._

_"Get up," said Ron sharply, pointing his wand at Lockhart. _

_Lockhart got to his feet - then he dived at Ron, knocking him to the ground. Harry jumped forward, but too late - Lockhart was straightening up, panting, Ron's wand in his hand and a gleaming smile back on his face._

_"The adventure ends here, boys!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body - say good-bye to your memories!" He raised Ron's Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled, "Obliviate!"_

_The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Harry flung his arms over his head and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling that were thundering to the floor. Next moment, he was standing alone, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock._

Harry tuned to see how the others were reacting; Hermione was enthralled, while Ron seemed indifferent, most of the Weasleys were in shock - Moly seemed outright enraged, be it at Lockhart's words or actions - the professors and aurors were impossible to read, and Sirius and Remus wore expressions of outright pride. Turning back Harry watched the next scene.

_"Open, "said Harry, in a low, faint hiss._

_The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harry, shaking from head to foot, walked inside._

_He was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place._

_His heart beating very fast, Harry stood listening to the chill silence. Could the basilisk be lurking in a shadowy corner, behind a pillar? And where was Ginny?_

Knowing what was coming, Harry thought for control of the penseive, Mrs Weasley wouldn't react well to Ginny seeming dead, and Ginny would only become upset if Tom told everyone what she had done, the memory started to flicker, everyone seemed confused by the flickering, but Dumbledore had noticed Harry's intense concentration.

Wordlessly he leant towards Harry and muttered "think of it like fast-forward on a muggle television", he straightened up, making it seem as though he had been checking his shirt the entire time. Harry 'fast-forwarded' past Tom's monologue of Ginny's actions, and when he was sure the conversation was 'safe' again, he imagined it continuing. Everyone looked relieved that the problems had stopped, but Harry missed the surreptitious glances he received from Ginny and Snape.

_"Well," said Riddle, smiling pleasantly, "how is it that you a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent - managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"_

_There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now._

_"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Harry slowly. "Voldemort was after your time …"_

_"Voldemort," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter . . . ."_

_He pulled Harry's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:_

_TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE_

_Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:_

_I AM LORD VOLDEMORT_

_"You see?" he whispered. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, Harry - I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"_

_Harry's brain seemed to have jammed. He stared numbly at Riddle, at the orphaned boy who had grown up to murder Harry's own parents and so many others... At last he forced himself to speak._

_"You're not," he said, his quiet voice full of hatred._

_"Not what?" snapped Riddle._

_"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world," said Harry, breathing fast._

_"Sorry to disappoint you and all that, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try and take over at Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw through you when you were at school and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days -"_

Many chuckled at Harry's defiance of the ghost-Voldemort; Dumbledore's eyes seemed to be shining more than usual, _is he about to cry? _Harry's train of thought was derailed by the cheering of Fred and George, who were promptly shushed by Mrs Weasley, though she seemed inclined to let it continue.

Everyone's attention was grabbed by the basilisk's appearance, as they shielded their eyes at Dumbledore's insistence, opening them when Harry told him Fawkes had blinded it again, they stood enthralled as Harry dodged the basilisk, whilst carrying the heavy Sword of Gryffindor.

The Weasley Twins cheered as Harry thrust the sword through the basilisk's mouth and into its head, and everyone had expressions of amazement, which quickly turned to horror, as they saw the fang that was stuck in his arm.

The paleness they had vanished once Fawkes had shed his tears over the poisonous wound and the awe returned as he destroyed the diary and Ginny awoke.

Harry had stopped the memory there and everyone was pulled into darkness.

…

Harry expected several different reactions based on the memory - fear, apprehension and outright insults - what he did not expect was rapturous applause, especially when Snape joined in. Maybe, just maybe, he had earned his potion master's respect.

The Weasleys - minus Ron - were quick to thank him profusely, his professors all thanked him for sharing of the memory, Dumbledore had more of a twinkle in his eye than Harry could ever remember being there before, the aurors were quick to offer praise, telling him he had the makings of a great auror, should he decide to do so, whereas Dumbledore and Remus suggested teaching as a viable alternative.

Somehow in the middle of it all, he managed to make eye contact with Ginny, and her silent message was worth fighting a fifty-foot basilisk any day of the week.

...

**AN**

I know some of this is eseentially re-reading, but I didn't want to miss it out, so if it's annoying you - Sorry, but DEAL WITH IT!

The return to Hogwarts, is of course coming next, where we meet up with Neville and Luna, and yes, Neville is BAMF, in my 'potterverse'.

'Till Next Time,  
>-MarvelMatt<p> 


	6. Chapter 6 - Quidditch Quandary

**Chapter 6 - Quidditch Quandary**

* * *

><p>The night air was cool and crisp, though being in central London meant less natural odours and more city fumes; London taxi-cabs just didn't smell the same as the Burrow's wildflowers. She supposed she should just be glad that the house even had a balcony; the grim setting that was Number 12 Grimmauld Place didn't extend to the balcony however, the white floor and blooming flowers really set it apart from the other house.<p>

Ginny gazed out over the park watching a happy couple stroll around the large pond, as a mother and her young son fed the ducks, while the boy's father watched on from a park bench; a little girl with blonde pigtails sat on his lap. They were obviously on their way back from a family day out, as the sun began to set overhead, casting a red glow over the normally bleak horizon. She felt the temperature in the air heat up slightly, as some of the rays hit the balcony fully, and shivered involuntarily.

"Cold?"

She turned around and her warm brown eyes met his sparkling green. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and for him, it was so true. She could see his suffering and torment, the pain that went through him whenever someone mentioned their children, the love he had for all of them, as well as his fierce desire to protect, and there was anger, so much anger, but directed at who? The Dursleys for their treatment? Voldemort and all he had done? Dumbledore for abandoning him at the Dursleys? Sirius and Remus for not being there? She didn't know, but she knew that Harry was becoming a powerful wizard, and she pitied whoever got him angry.

"-llo. Ginny … are you there?"

"Huh", she blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"You err … zoned out", he gave her an enquiring look, "I asked if you were cold?"

She didn't reply, she just turned back towards the horizon, aware that he was making his way across the balcony towards him. He stopped when he drew next to her, standing to her right, their arms briefly touching, her bare arm and his cloaked one, if he noticed he didn't say. They stood there for companionable silence, watching as the sun continued to set.

As they watched the last remnants of light fade away, a small glow appeared from the back wall of the balcony, evidently it was enchanted, as it cast a warm glow, though that did nothing to combat the chill in the air, noticing her discomfort, Harry shed his cloak and placed it around her shoulders, pulling her into him slightly, his arms hung around her in a loose hug.

She was shocked at his open display of affection; it wasn't like him at all, but she found herself enjoying it and feeling warmer for it, hesitantly she backed up slightly to see him gazing intently at her, she stepped forward and-

"Ginny! Thank goodness, we were wondering where you had gotten to, come on in dear, you'll catch a cold out here"

Mrs Weasley was stood at the door expectantly, waiting for her daughter to follow her.

Ginny reached up to remove the cloak, but found Harry's hand blocking hers; he pulled the cloak back around her shoulders, and patted the top pocket, which seemed heavier than it should have done. Keeping the cloak around her shoulders she followed her mother back down the stairs, and went into her room.

Harry stood watching as Ginny left the balcony, he stood watching her retreating form, and stayed staring at the stairs after she had disappeared, eventually following her and into his room.

…

Shrugging off Harry's cloak, not failing to miss the Potter crest on the breast pocket, she rifled through it, looking for an inner pocket under the crest, finding it she pulled out whatever the objet was. It was not what she was expecting.

It was a small golden compact mirror, which she opened to find a small piece of parchment in.

_Ginny_

_This mirror is based on one Sirius and Remus gave me._

_Simply say my name into the mirror and mine will heat up (and vice versa)._

_I thought these might be useful for when we get back to Hogwarts._

_-Harry P_

Smiling as she finished reading the note, it was such a sweet thing to do, and she also liked the way he signed his name with a lightning bolt on the 'P'.

This might be her best year at Hogwarts yet.

…

The Hogwarts Express stood in its usual position on Platform 9 ¾, the scarlet and black steam train was as majestic as ever, and as usual the Weasleys were running late.

Harry had been packed ever since he received his trunk, had managed to convince Ginny to pack early, so that she was ready to go at exactly half past ten, however that didn't take into account Ginny's three brothers, who had all left their packing until the last minute.

Hermione was already waiting for them in the entryway, and muttered a brief "Hello" when they appeared. Ever since the viewing of the Chamber of Secrets, both Ron and Hermione had been at least cordial to Harry. He still wasn't sure what he had done to annoy them both so much, but he wasn't going to apologise for their not sending letters over the holidays, that was up to them. He guessed that part of the reason was their smugness over becoming Gryffindor's newest prefects, and Ron had spent the last two weeks spewing over how he was going to become Gryffindor's new keeper.

Only Ginny, Remus and Sirius knew of Harry being named quidditch captain.

Hurtling through the barrier, the six got their trunks loaded, and went off in search of a compartment.

Fred and George went off in search of their friend Lee Jordan, while Ron and Hermione went to their prefect meeting. Harry and Ginny ended up in a compartment with Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, who to Harry's surprise, was extremely insightful, as well as good company.

When Malfoy finally showed up, a wandless and wordless locking charm was enough to deter him, however it did not deter Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet and a very murderous looking Fred and George.

As soon as he dropped the charm, they started.

"Why didn't our own esteemed…"

"And familial friend see fit …"

"To inform us that he …"

"Had been named as our new …"

"CAPTAIN!?" They finished together.

"I err … forgot to mention it" Harry finished weekly.

After much apologising and teasing frim his team mates, especially regarding that he had big shoes to fill, the five dissipated, agreeing to keep his captaincy to themselves, and leaving the foursome alone again. Neville and Luna were both chuckling, but Ginny had her fist in her mouth to contain her laughter. Gingerly, Harry leant over to whisper in her ear,

"Butter Dish"

She promptly stopped laughing.

…

The entirety of the Great Hall seemed to have picked up on the tension between the 'Golden Trio', which was highlighted by them walking in separately to opposite ends of the table. Ron and Hermione sat with their classmates, but Harry remained with Ginny, and got to know some of her friends. He found out he got on well with Demelza Robbins, as well as the Creevey Brothers, now that they had gotten over their obsession with Harry's hero worship. All three wanted to play on the quidditch team in the next year(s), Demelza, Colin and Ginny wanted to take over the chaser positions, and Dennis wanted to be Harry's successor, who nearly fainted when Harry said they should fly together some time, after all, if Dennis wanted to replace him, why not train him to be better?

After the sorting came the food, and Harry was pleasantly surprised to find a treacle tart already on his plate, it seemed Dobby and Winky were still taking care of him.

The night only got worse from there, as they were introduced to their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Dolores Umbridge, whom Harry recognised from his trial.

This year was going from greatest to worst very quickly.

…

Escaping detention free from his first week was not easy. Umbridge was obviously a ministry lapdog, and Snape seemed more vindictive than ever, though with Harry's new found ability at potions, as well as Neville's improving grade, as he continued to partner with Harry, Harry supposed it was just that Snape had no outlet for his frustration, though that didn't mean the remarks stopped, Harry's basic mastery of Occlumency helped him calm his mind, and Snape doubled his efforts by insulting Ron and Hermione, not that this bothered him particularly. Umbridge's class was particularly difficult, but he held his tongue, as Hermione mouthed off and received detention, to everyone's utter shock.

That first Saturday morning however found him leading the Gryffindor quidditch team down to the pitch, only to find Ginny, Demelza, Colin and Dennis practicing, much to the shock of his six team members, smirking inwardly at his plan.

"Well. What do you guys think?" Seeming unsure of what was happening, Angelina took the dive.

"Think of what?"

"Your replacements" The looks varied between shock and outrage, before he continued "Yeah, after most of you leave this year, we're going to need a new team, so I'm building a reserve one. There was a notice in the common room about this", he paused collecting himself, "Now, get in those changing rooms, I want you all ready in ten minutes to start keeper trials, as well as a reserve team. MOVE!"

They all scrambled for the rooms before Harry called, "By the way guys, Oliver sends his regards".

They each continued their rush, afraid of what monster they had unleashed.

…

It seemed as though most of Gryffindor house had turned up to try out. They decided to start with the reserve positions, as they seemed easiest to fill.

Having all the potential seekers chase a snitch seemed the easiest way of determining who would be best. Dennis Creevey was the only second year to try out, but he outflew all of the third years, and caught the snitch. Congratulating them all on their attempts, Dennis was welcomed to the team.

The beaters went up against Fred and George, and Harry trusted their judgement with the issue, eventually Richie Coote and Jimmie Peakes, both third years, were selected over the only other pair in Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, though neither seemed broken up about it as Dean went over for keeper trials, and Seamus had already mentioned wanting to commentate next year. Fred and George seemed only too happy to have apprentices.

The chasers were selected by the whole team as they needed to 'fit' with everyone else's style. Ginny who had out flown everyone and scored nineteen goals was immediately selected, and to her relief, eventually Colin and Demelza were also.

The keeper selections were last.

Apart from Ron and Dean, Harry didn't know anyone else's name. He decided to have Fred and George take bludger shots at them, while they attempted to save goals from his three starting chasers.

It soon became clear that the selection was between Ron and Dean, as their skills were roughly even, and better than the rest. Harry called a huddle to help decide; with the logic that Dean was less nervous in the air, he earned the keeper slot, with Ron as his reserve.

Ron did not seem pleased.

…

The sign in the common room later read:

_GRYFFINDOR QUIDDITCH TEAM_

_STARTERS / __RESERVES_

_Keeper  
>Dean Thomas (Y5)  __Ron Weasley (Y5)_

_Chasers  
>Angelina Johnson (Y7)  __Ginny Weasley (Y4)  
>Katie Bell (Y6)  __Demelza Robbins (Y4)  
>Alicia Spinnet (Y7)  __Colin Creevey (Y4)_

_Beaters  
>Fred Weasley (Y7)  __Richie Cootes (Y3)  
>George Weasley (Y7)  __Jimmie Peakes (Y3)_

_Seeker  
>Harry Potter (Y5) (C)  __Dennis Creevey (Y2)_

_Practice will be on Saturday mornings from 0600 until 0800. Attendance is mandatory. If you are unable to attend please inform the captain, Harry Potter, skipping practice will lead to your removal from the team.  
>-HJP<em>

Harry was very happy with his selections, until he came face to face with Ron in their dormitory that night.

...

**AN**

Duh, duh ... duhhh

The shouting match you've all been ... completely expecting for the last two chapters.

Next chapter we see the training resume, now with Ginny.

On a more curious note; is there anything you guys DON'T want to see in this story. I've got some ideas but input is always nice

-MarvelMatt


	7. Chapter 7 - Dinner Date?

**Chapter 7 - Dinner Date?**

Saturday had, in Harry's opinion, gone rather well. He spent the morning on the quidditch pitch, selecting HIS new team, and even assigning each reserve member a mentor, before getting in an hours practice. Dean fit well with the other members of the team, and his reserves were only going to get better, Dennis was going to make an excellent seeker.

They broke off for lunch, and on their way down after showering, Harry posted his notice in the common room. Lunch itself was a grandiose affair, with the team being treated as heroes, even without playing a game; Malfoy attempted his usual insults but was drowned out by the entirety of Gryffindor House. The only two noticeably absent were Ron and Hermione, but that would not ruin Harry's mood.

The afternoon was spent with Ginny working on homework, which Harry found extremely easy, and then they used McGonagall's classroom for practicing their animagus transformations. Ginny was starting to grow a tail, whereas Harry now had a black mane, tail, and four paws, and was working on his face.

An hours work in, Ginny yet out a surprise yelp, and Harry found her sitting across from him with a striped tail swishing to and fro, that grin was still on her face at dinner.

While people were scattered around the castle, Harry found himself in the common room, sat next to Ginny in front of the fire, lazily helping her with her Potions essay. Shocked at how well he remembered the material from the summer, and adding in extra when he found appropriate. His good mood had lasted the day. Agreeing to meet in the common room at six o'clock the following day, Harry decided to go to bed early.

Ron was sat waiting for him.

…

The usual four poster beds sat where they were, with each boy's trunk at the side, with a small table added. Neville was grooming his plant, _mimbulus mimbletonia, _while Ron was sat on Harry's bed. Hearing the door open, Ron looked up, scowling, while Neville continued to groom his plant.

"Neville", the boy in question looked up, a small speck of dirt in his shirt, and read the situation.

"Oh, hi guys, I'm just going to get some more dinner, see you later", and with that he sped out of the dormitory as fast as possible, not wanting to be caught in the fallout.

…

Ginny watched from in front of the fire with curiosity, _Neville seemed terrified - of Harry? I should probably go check on him._

_…_

The two just stared each other down for a moment, neither one prepared to back down, Harry knew the argument was coming, he had just hoped that they would reconcile before it happened, alas no, this was going to get loud.

Finally breaking eye contact, Ron stood up, "Potter"

"Ronald"

"WHAT. THE. HELL. WAS. THAT?"

Harry sighed, "What was what Ronald?"

"Out there today, on the pitch"

"We played quidditch, or is this because Dean beat you out for keeper?"

The scowl on Ron's face deepened, "You're damn right"

"About what? Dean outflew you, Dean gets the starting spot, you outflew everyone else you got the reserve spot. Dean'll be mentoring you, improving your flying skills. You got a problem with that?"

"YOU'RE BLOODY RIGHT I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT! I WAS THE BETTER MAN OUT THERE, AND YOU SCREWED ME OUT OF SPI-"

"WHAT?! OUT OF SPITE? I'M NOT SNAPE, AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN QUIT - I CAN GET ANOTHER RESERVE KEEPER", feeling his anger flaring, he stopped and held himself, before turning around and heading to leave, sleep could wait. He wrenched open the door and made his way down the stairs, he was on the final two steps when Fred and George came into the common room, laden with sweets. Ginny appeared in front of him, looking worried, before he head-butted her.

…

In his anger Ron had followed Harry, intending to continue the argument, when Harry stopped on the stairs, without hesitation Ron swung for his head. Not noticing Fred and George, but seeing his sister's hands fly up to her nose, he swung his legs into Harry's ribs. Hearing the _CRACK _of Harry's ribs stopped him dead in his attacks, but not before Fred had drawn his wand.

"Stupefy!"

…

_He slithered from side to side, down the dark corridor, he just had to reach the end, the door was looming overhead, he reached out for the handle and the door -_

"Mr Potter!"

"Huh?" He attempted opening his eyes, but found that everything was blurry; _I've lost my glasses, _reaching around him blindly, he suddenly felt himself being forced back on to a bed, before having his glasses placed back onto his head. He looked up into the concerned gaze of Madam Pomfrey.

"Are you alright Mr Potter? You were thrashing about quite a bite then"

"I'm fine. Why am I in the hospital wing?"

"Young Mr Weasley broke one of your ribs, as well as Miss Weasley's nose". He sat bolt upright, concern flooding him.

"Is Ginny okay? I didn't mean to hit her, it was just Ron and the back of my head and-"

"Mr Potter!" She half-yelled at him, before regaining her composure, "Miss Weasley is fine, her older brothers saw what happened and informed me of the situation. Until dinner time, she was sat in that chair next to you" Harry turned his head, only just noticing the chair that had been pulled next to the bed, "It also may interest you to know that Mr Weasley had been given detention every night for the next week with Professor McGonagall, and that once you take this potion you are free to go".

Harry swallowed the small vial in one gulp, before heading for the Hospital Wing door, before being called back by Madam Pomfrey, "Oh and Mr Potter, is there a particular bed you prefer, you have tried them all?"

Harry didn't even try to fight the smirk working its way onto his face, before calling back "Left side, second from the end!" As he left to find Ginny.

…

He ran into Ginny on the First Floor landing, as she was on her way to see him. It was obvious that she hadn't eaten, but had just circled the floor, before heading back to the Hospital Wing. He barely had time to register she was there, before she'd pulled him into a hug that rivalled one of Mrs Weasley's, while muttering apologies in her ear. He pulled her down a side corridor and towards a painting of fruit, she seemed confused at first, until he tickled the pear and they found themselves in Hogwarts' kitchen, with Dobby and Winky bowing deeply.

"Master Potter sir, how can we's be of service to you?"

"Hello Dobby, Winky. We'd like dinner please"

"Right this way Master Harry"

Harry and Ginny were led to a corner near the back of the room for dinner, the back was evidently were the stores were, as it was all cupboards, _they could be bedrooms though,_ and on a slightly raised platform sat a table for two.

The table was made from the same material as the ones in the Great Hall, but it was much smaller, and circular in design. There were two basic chairs, with one on either side, and the table cloth was red and white chequered. A small vase sat in the centre with a single rose. Ever the gentleman, Harry pulled out Ginny's chair for her before seating himself. As they sat down a small plate of salad appeared in front of them, with a basket of bread rolls.

They ate in silence, occasionally glancing up at each other, but both looking away and blushing when the other locked eyes.

Winky came back after they had finished their salads, and asked what they would like to order next. Before Ginny could get a word in, Harry decided to order for both of them, _that's what the guy's supposed to do, right?_

"Winky I'd like a steak with potatoes and salad, and Ginny would like scampi with chips and peas. Two Pepsis to go with them.

"Pepsi, Harry?"

"It's a sweet muggle drink; it's fizzy with a lot of sugar and caffeine. There's a similar drink called Coca Cola, or Coke, but Pepsi tastes better"

"Oh, okay then. So how are your ribs and what happened?"

"Thankfully, Harry was spared from answering by the re-appearance of Winky with their food; how a tiny elf balanced all of that food and drink on one tray, he'd never know.

The conversation turned into more amiable topics, they started out on the Gryffindor quidditch team, and by the time they had finished, Ginny was teasing him over his crush on Cho. They both couldn't believe he'd actually had a crush on her, she was actually quite shallow, and the situation was made worse by the death of her boyfriend Cedric Diggory, right in front of him.

By the time dessert was finished, strawberries and chocolate, the two had just taken to cracking jokes and chatting about their training and homework.

They stayed in the kitchens until past curfew talking aimlessly, and at somepoint had moved from their table to a small couch in front of a fire, similar to the Gryffindor common room. The drinks kept appearing next to them; Harry supposed that Dobby was keeping them filled. Pulling the Marauder's Map from his back pocket, he checked out for Snape, Umbridge, Filch and the prefects, before heading up using the back staircases, avoiding everyone.

They stumbled into an empty common room, giggling over Harry's 'fight' with a suit of armour on the fifth floor that had caused them to flee. Ginny stopped at the foot of her staircase to give Harry a hug, and before she lost the nerve she kissed him on the cheek, before running up to bed.

Harry raised his hand to his cheek, _she kissed me._

_..._

**AN**

So here is where the 'meaty' part of the story begins, updates may take an extra day, but I am finding this quite easy to write, as I have a lot of plans ready for it. (Hence the slight shortness of the chapter).

The next chapter sees Harry's lessons, as well as his training with Ginny continue.

Have you figured out Ginny's animagus form yet?

-MarvelMatt


	8. Chapter 8 - Growing Pains

**Chapter 8 - Growing Pains**

All in all, it had been a strange weekend for Harry. He had held rather successful quidditch try-outs, and selected a new team, which he was rather proud of. He had then been attacked by Ron, apparently because Ron couldn't handle Dean Thomas being picked over him for a starting position, for which he'd been given detention with Professor McGonagall for the rest of the month, as well as being put on probation with his prefect badge.

Fred and George had seen the whole thing, and actually reported it, later coming to Harry and apologising on behalf of their brother, but Harry shrugged them off, he bore the Weasley family no ill will, Ron was just being a jealous prat. It was just a repeat of last year, during the beginning of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

It would all blow over sooner or later.

Harry hoped.

Sunday was much more pleasant, though Harry had slept through until dinner, Madam Pomfrey had seen fit to let him out, so Harry and Ginny had had a private dinner for two in the kitchens, being served by Dobby and Winky. They had then spent the night chatting over the mirrors, until Harry felt the need to sleep.

…

Apart from the constant pain in the centre of Harry's chest, the next few days passed in relative normalcy, Harry attended his lessons, spent time with Ginny training, and also at quidditch. His professors had all noted an increase in his grades; even Snape had started giving him outstandings, though Harry suspected that was more to do with him earning Snape's respect.

Ron and Hermione were confusing him, after Ron attacked him, he expected them to steer clear, but instead, they would come up to him looking guilty, before stopping short of him, sneering and then walking away.

It was confusing.

…

It was on Friday afternoon that Ginny dragged him to Madam Pomfrey over the pain in his chest, who then proceeded to fuss over his health, before making him lie down so that she could perform diagnostic spells. It was not lost on him, that he was in the bed on the left side, which was second from the end. Madam Pomfrey had stopped casting her spells, and a frown had formed on her face.

"Mr Potter, this pain started four days ago, and has gradually gotten duller, with the occasional spike hasn't it?"

The look of surprise on his face answered her question, so she pressed on, "what you are going through is called magical maturation, it happens in every wizard and normally lasts a day, happening around the thirteenth birthday"

"So why am I different?"

"I can only guess, but I simply think that your body needed longer to prepare, you should feel fine by tomorrow, but your power will have increased, so please exercise caution in Monday's classes"

"Yes Madam Pomfrey"

Madam Pomfrey watched the two teenagers leave, smiling to herself, they were quite clueless towards each other. It was obvious to her, as she had met no-one who had managed to bring Potter to the Hospital Wing without complaint.

Deciding to err on the side of caution, she decided to inform Minerva of what had happened with her favourite patient.

…

The sharp spikes of pain were making it difficult for Harry to concentrate on his homework, so he resigned himself to watching and helping Ginny with hers. He knew when to interject because she scrunched up her nose in confusion, so that her freckles were pressed closer together. Harry found it to be quite endearing.

"What are you stuck on?"

"Vanishing spells. We have to find out why vanishing kittens is harder than vanishing snails"

"It's because of the way they're designed. The kitten has more to it than the snail, right?"

"Yeah, it's bigger, has a tail, claws, whiskers"

"Exactly! The vanishing spell has to focus on these parts individually, so the more complex the animal, the harder the spell has to work, and the more difficult the spell is to cast"

"Why can't McGonagall say that?"

"Why? Was it easier to understand?"

"Yes! It actually makes sense now - Harry have you ever thought about teaching?"

Harry scratched the back of his head, "Err, not really. I do enjoy teaching you stuff, and watching you get it though"

"Would you want to teach other people Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

"Maybe in a few years, when I've passed my NEWTs, and lived a little, you know, travelled a bit, defeated Voldemort, gotten married". He said the last part, as Ginny made eye contact, causing both of them to flush red, "what's with the questions anyway?"

"I mentioned to some of the girls in my dorm, that you could cast most of, if not all of the hexes that we need for our practical exams, and they were wondering if you'd teach them, and I said that I'd ask"

"How many is 'some'?"

"Four"

"Oh, well I think I can manage four"

"Well, I was thinking that we open it up to others as well, even Fred and George said no-one knows the NEWT stuff better than you, and you haven't even finished your OWLs. You could be helping a lot of people Harry"

"I don't know Gin, I want to help, but I'm supposed to be nutters remember?"

"Just meet with them, and if you don't want to do it afterwards then don't. Just meet with them please"

She was pleading with him now, and he knew that he had already lost, sensing a bit of fun, he decided to drag it out.

"And if I were to say to be at the Three Broomsticks at three o'clock next Saturday, what would I get out of it?"

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head at his comment, before running one hand lightly across his chest, "I'm sure I can think of a few things Mr Potter", she replied softly, before bolting up to her dormitory.

She never saw his jaw drop, before he modelled it into a grin.

…

"PADFOOT! MOONY!"

Harry was sitting on his bed in the dormitory, with his curtains wrapped around him, and a silencing spell for good measure. It didn't take long for his mirror to vibrate, and suddenly he was staring into the face of his godfather and his honorary uncle.

"CUB! What happened?"

"I need some advice about a girl"

Their previously pale faces flushed with relief, and they both started chuckling, before descending into howls of laughter. Harry felt his temper grow.

"GUYS!"

They sobered up at the angry tone of voice.

"Sorry Pup - it's just that…"

"What?"

"It's Ginny isn't it?"

His jaw dropped for the second time that night.

"WHAT? NO-WELL-I MEAN … yes" He mumbled.

"Ah, the old in love with the best friend, it reminds me of Frank and Alice really, wouldn't you say Moony?"

"Aye Padfoot, I most certainly would"

"If you two are done with the joking, could we get back to my problem?"

"The solution is simple Cub, tell her"

"Or you could ask her to the ball Pup"

Harry looked at them confused. "What ball?"

…

Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall was quickly becoming one of Harry's more enjoyable lessons, now that he was able to get his work done, as lonely as he was, ignoring Ron and Hermione had really done wonders for his school work. So Monday mornings were no longer such a chore, especially with his new workout.

His musings on his frien- NO - former friends came to a halt, as he took his seat next to Neville, and Professor McGonagall walked into her class.

"Good afternoon class"

"Good afternoon Professor McGonagall" chimed the class.

"Today we will be focusing on the conjuration of precious metals, remember Gold is harder than Silver, Platinum is even harder, if anyone manages to get that far, they may attempt to conjure diamond. Is that understood?"

"Yes Professor McGonagall", chanted the class.

…

After teaching them the incantation "Conjoro Precio", and the wand movement, "swish and jab", she set them to making Silver rings. Hermione, sat at the front, managed to make an extremely small ring, which she then enlarged after ten minutes, which earned her ten points for Gryffindor, several of the Ravenclaws later managed full size silver rings, before moving on to gold.

Harry was sat as far back as possible, on a small solo table, which was useful for when Ginny needed to talk to him, as he could open his mirror under the table. It also meant that he was always last to receive help.

So when Professor McGonagall expected Harry to be failing at silver conjuration, thanks to his removal from Hermione Granger, she nearly fainted from shock at what she saw.

She was ready to reprimand him for not completing his work, when she saw what he had been doing.

Suspended in mid-air, Harry had conjured a large platinum circle, which he was whittling down, and eventually it made itself into a phoenix. As if that wasn't impressive, he then proceeded to conjure up gold for the decorative wing tips and beak, and a small diamond appeared where the eye should have been.

The silver chain was just showing off.

"Mr Potter"

Blinking, Harry looked up in surprise, by now the entire class had stopped to stare openly at him, this, combined with Professor McGonagall's stare made him feel uncomfortable, but he answered with steely calmness in his voice.

"Yes Professor"

"May I?"

Without waiting for a response, she snatched his amulet out of the air, before dropping it with a pained hiss.

"I put protective charms on it Professor"

The look of incredulity on her face shocked Harry. Picking up the amulet he handed it to her, which she accepted gratefully.

"Can I have it back at the end of the lesson Professor; I'd like to keep it"

"I will return it to you later Mr Potter, but as you conjured it, it will disappear"

"Actually I put a permanent placement charm on it while conjuring the metal Professor"

To say Minerva McGonagall was shocked would be an understatement, taking the amulet back to her desk; she dismissed the class, deciding to bring this up at the evening's Order meeting.

Harry ignored the annoyed and awed looks he received on his way out. All he noticed was Ron's look of indifference, but Hermione looked _jealous?_

…

Having ran in late to dinner, Harry rushed up to the spare Transfiguration room on the sixth floor, when he saw Ginny, apparently in an argument with Michael Corner, around the corner from the room.

Making the decision that sneakiness would not help the situation, he decided to walk up to them, while listening to their conversation.

"What's your problem Michael?"

"MY problem is that MY ex-girlfriend is now avoiding talking to me!"

"We went on ONE date, and I was never your girlfriend, YOU never asked. Now excuse me I'm running late". Ginny turned to leave, but Michael grabbed hold of her arm.

"We're not done"

His grip seemed to be bothering her, and Harry could see her reaching for her wand, so he decided to make his presence known.

"Hey Ginny!" He called out, as he made the last few strides up to see her, "what's going on?" Eyeing Corner, who visibly gulped at Harry's stature; He then decided to release Ginny, before walking off, much quicker than normally.

Ginny grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him in to the empty classroom they were going to use, before rounding on him.

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

"What was what Gin?"

"That thing with Corner"

"You mean my getting rid of him?"

"Yes, exactly that. I'm not some damsel in distress"

_Well there's the problem, _"Gin, you're one of the strongest witches I know, and you're one of the best duellers I've ever seen. I know you didn't ask for my help, but you're going to keep getting it anyway. I think I lo-"

"Harry?"

"Come on Gin, we should get to work"

Their night was then spent in light teasing, as well as animagus training. By the end of the night, Harry had all of his claws, his mane, face and tail. All he needed was the body.

Ginny now had a full orange and black striped tail, and it was obvious that she would be a tiger, but all she managed to grow after that were whiskers, feeling disheartened, she made her way back up to Gryffindor tower with Harry, thinking she would just do some work on her Charms essay.

When they arrived and Harry made her sit in front of the fireplace, while Dobby and Winky brought them Hot Chocolate with cookies.

The Charms essay was forgotten.

...

**AN**

So I've read a bit into a lot of people complaining about a lack of characterization for Ron and Hermione, and while I appreciate the concern, and am happy for the feedback - there IS a reason for their behaviour, but we'll get to that at a later date.

How would you all feel about a potential sixth year sequel.

-MarvelMatt


	9. Chapter 9 - Form Up

**Chapter 9 - Form Up**

Sirius was seriously bored.

It seemed that Severus Snape had the uncanny ability to make his extremely dangerous task seem as boring as one of his monotonous Potions lectures.

He had paid rapt attention to everyone else's reports, but he couldn't help but feel bored by _Snivellus_ and his supposed intelligence. He was starting to tune it out when Professor McGonagall took a turn to speak. Normally she sat quietly and only interjected with comments during discussions.

"We have one last thing to discuss". She reached into the pocket of her emerald robe and pulled out a small phoenix pendant, handing it off to Flitwick. Albus looked at it curiously, before speaking.

"I take it that you want us to wear these pendants Minerva?"

"No Albus, I brought it for a different reason". She turned to Flitwick, who had passed the pendant on, "Filius, what can you tell us about that pendant"

"Well, that particular pendant, has been exquisitely crafted, most likely by a master, it bears the signs of conjuration, so I suppose it has an everlast charm on it. The manner in which the metals have been blended, as well as the placement of the diamond, and the high shine make me think it is brand new, though I would've heard of work this magnificent. The conjuration is at a level I would expect from you or Albus" The short wizard pondered it for a second, "did you make this Minerva?"

"I did not, although, can anyone deny the skill behind it?"

Everyone shook their heads; even Dumbledore and Snape looked intrigued by the pendant, as it finally reached them last.

"This pendant was made by Mr Potter in less than an hour this morning, all of it, including the Charms work is his. He made this with ease, as he seemingly found the OWL level work quite boring"

The dropped jaws and astonished gasps told her about what the others thought, before she decided to continue her report, "Poppy came to see me at the weekend, it seems as though Mr Potter has only just gone through his magical maturation, and that it lasted several days. If not for Miss Weasley, we wouldn't have noticed it"

"Why did it take Harry an extra two years for this Minnie?"

Bristling at Sirius' use of 'Minnie', she took a moment to compose her answer, "Poppy believes that his body needed the extra time to prepare for his power increase. Based on today's lessons, I would say it worked. His other lessons were Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts, so there was no use in them"

"Then I must ask", Albus began gravely, "that you each keep an eye on Mr Potter, we would hate for this power to corrupt him, he cannot be permitted to go dark"

"Albus, do you really believe he could?"

"I do not believe it will be an issue Minerva, however we must take caution"

…

Harry awoke early Tuesday morning, feeling a stiff neck, and that his chest was heavy. He tried to sit up, until something pulled him back down.

Wait. WHAT?

Startled he opened his eyes in alarm, only to find himself curled up next to Ginny Weasley on the floor in front of the fire - in the middle of the Gryffindor common room - where anyone could see them, including her older brothers.

"Ginny", he whispered as he shook her shoulder, "Ginny, come on, wake up!" As his shaking became more frantic, she tightened her grip, before eventually opening her eyes.

"Hey Harry", she yawned as she spoke, "WAIT! HARRY!"

"Shhh … you'll wake everyone up"

"WHAT HAPPENED?" She whisper-yelled, all traces of tiredness removed from her appearance.

"We must've fallen asleep here, let's just go for our run, take a shower and go to breakfast, then when we get back, no-one will have noticed"

"Oh, okay then, let's do it"

…

They both returned after several minutes, clad in running attire. Harry dressed in a tight fitting green shirt and black shorts, while Ginny wore a white tank top and grey shorts. It was all Harry could do to not stare, and if Ginny noticed, she didn't say anything. The coy smile however told him he'd been staring too long, not that she wasn't.

Fred and George stood on the stairs, trying to figure out what to do about Ginny and Harry, though they did have an idea.

…

While the rest of the week passed by in ease thanks to Harry's new found skill, he was still anxious for the Hogsmeade meeting at the Three Broomsticks, he'd owled the barmaid Madam Rosmerta, and had booked a private room.

That morning he found himself being dragged along by Ginny, because he felt very reluctant to go, and at the same time he felt like he had to at least take the meeting, and besides, he'd already paid for a private room.

…

They entered the Three Broomsticks, with a jingle of the bell and were warmly greeted by Madam Rosmerta, who ushered them into their room near the back, placing a few trays of Butterbeer on the table, she left them be.

They waited.

At exactly one o'clock the door burst open, Fred and George were the first through, followed by their friend Lee Jordan, as well as Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet. Neville arrived at the same time as Luna, who waved at Harry and Ginny, who both waved back. Terry Boot showed up with Cho Chang, who were supposedly dating. Zacharias Smith, Ernie McMillan, Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones all showed up next, and they were followed by the Patil Twins, Lavender Brown and Romilda Vane. The Creevey Brothers entered waving and beaming at Harry, who returned the wave to the two quidditch protégés, who were snatched up by the three chasers. Coote and Peakes entered with Demelza, meaning his whole quidditch team was here - minus Ron. Anthony Goldstein and Justin Flich-Fletchley were supposed to be the last two, so everyone opened their mouths in protest of the appearance of Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass and her little sister Astoria. Stating that they were not there to fight, Harry permitted them to stay, announcing that the room had been secrecy warded.

Standing up, Ginny began the meeting.

…

Harry had taken a lot of verbal abuse during the fifteen years he had spent with his relatives, so he could honestly say he was never sure how to act when being complimented, and he often downplayed whatever he did.

Today was one of those times he couldn't.

He had grown a lot more confident in his magical abilities, and as a result, was much more confident in his everyday life. So when Ginny began listing his achievements, as well as the manner he had taken to complete these, he had to deal with the looks of outright awe and admiration coming from the other students, _not to mention the giggling_. The Creevey brothers and the group of Gryffindor girls had become irritating, but each one of them signed the list to attend the meeting next Saturday at eight o'clock.

Ignoring the giggling girls, Harry made his way outside and down the high street with Ginny, when they were pulled into the alley next to Zonko's.

Without thinking Harry had elbowed the man, who had grabbed him and stunned the one holding Ginny. Both of them were now on the floor, one stunned, and one holding his gut and looking pissed.

'They' were Fred and George.

Muttering two spells, George stopped rubbing his stomach and Fred awoke, before both started cracking up.

"Aww … is ickle Harrykins all protective…"

"In case someone tries to grab Gin-Gin…

"Not to worry Harry m'boy we would never…"

"Ever ever attempt to harm our mysterious…"

"Investor!" They finished the last word together, and Ginny never questioned what they meant by investor, as Harry had told her during the summer.

The twins jovial grins then disappeared, and they put on a serious expression, before Fred began, what seemed to be a painful question, "Harry … we know it's not right to ask but … would you be able to invest another 500 galleons in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, so that we can buy out the Zonko's Hogsmeade branch, and have two shops, one here and one in Diagon Alley?"

That was not what Harry was expecting. The idea though, was a good one, it would maximize their chances a being successful if they could buy out their competition before it even got competitive, and the Weasley twins were already successful thanks to their sales at Hogwarts.

"Okay I'll do it". The twins' faces lit up at Harry's agreement to their request, "however", their faces dropped, "I want your help pranking the Slytherins on Friday. It's a big job, and I need help". Their faces split into identical evil grins, before they nodded their consent, and rushed off to find Lee; probably to tell him the good news.

…

Again the week passed in relative ease; Harry just needed that one last push to transform and Ginny had managed to add a Tigress' face. They had found Harry's distinguishing mark to be his eyes, which remained the same in both forms, Harry was just glad it wasn't his scar, or his glasses.

Friday morning, Harry met with Fred, George and Ginny in the Gryffindor common room at four o'clock, and they headed down to the kitchens, were they met Dobby and Winky, who were compelled to help.

Over the next hour, the sextet set about applying a hair loss powder Harry had invented to the Slytherin breakfast food; it was applied to random foods to target as many people as possible, and not in a pattern. A small amount was then added to the foods directly in front of where Professor Snape sat. Pleased with their handiwork, Harry charmed a message to appear above the Slytherin table, and the four traipsed back up to Gryffindor tower.

…

Sitting with the normal group, Harry and Ginny kept glancing towards the Slytherin table, where the powder would take effect when Snape had been seated for ten minutes, and Professor Snape always arrived just before the majority of his students. Attempting to be unassuming, they returned to the conversation.

The Hufflepuffs were the first to notice.

Over half of Slytherin house's students had lost their hair. Malfoy and Pansy were among those running from the Great Hall, but the best part was the head table. Professors Snape, Sprout and Umbridge had all lost their hair. The entirety of the Great Hall was now in tears, so no-one noticed Harry slip the recipe to Fred, as well as a grant of 500 galleons.

All they needed now, was somewhere to practice defence, that could accommodate twenty five people, but that wasn't until tomorrow. He'd ask Dobby or Sirius later. Right now he had to get to Charms.

…

_"__Wait a moment - there is something you can do for me, Dobby," said Harry slowly._

_The elf looked around, beaming._

_"__What is it, Harry Potter, sir!"_

_"__I need to find a place where twenty-eight people can practice Defence Against the Dark Arts without being discovered by any of the teachers. Especially," Harry clenched his teeth, "Professor Umbridge."_

_He expected the elf's smile to vanish, his ears to droop; he expected him to say that this was impossible, or else that he would try, but his hopes were not high … What he had not expected was for Dobby to give a little skip, his ears waggling happily, and clap his hands together._

_"__Dobby knows the perfect place, sir!" he said happily. "Dobby heard tell of it from the other house-elves when he came to Hogwarts, sir. It is known by us as the Come and Go Room, sir, or else as the Room of Requirement!"_

_..._

**AN**

Next chapter sees the first -DA?- meeting. Does it need a new name, or should I keep it at Dumbledore's Army? Suggestions welcome.

It's about time Harry had detention isn't it?

-MarvelMatt


	10. Chapter 10 - The Army Begins

**Chapter 10 - The Army Begins**

"This guys, is the Room of Requirement, also known as the Come and Go Room or the Room of Hidden Things" Harry was ushering them into the room, while Ginny was checking the Marauder's Map for anyone that was not welcome.

_ "__Whoa," said Dean, staring around, impressed. "What is this place?"_

_Harry began to explain, but before he had finished more people had arrived, and he had to start all over again. By the time eight o'clock arrived, every cushion was occupied. Harry moved across to the door and turned the key protruding from the lock; it clicked in a satisfyingly loud way and everybody fell silent, looking at him._

_"__Well," said Harry, slightly nervously. "This is the place we've found for practices, and you've - er - obviously found it okay -"_

_"__It's fantastic!" said Cho, and several people murmured their agreement._

_"__It's bizarre," said Fred, frowning around at it. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then …"_

_"__Hey, Harry, what's this stuff?" asked Dean from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass._

_"__Dark Detectors," said Harry, stepping between the cushions to reach them. "Basically they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled …"_

_He gazed for a moment into the cracked Foe-Glass; shadowy figures were moving around inside it, though none was recognizable. He turned his back on it._

_"__Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and - er - " He noticed a raised hand. "What, Demelza?"_

_"__I think we ought to elect a leader," said Demelza._

_"__Harry's leader," said Ginny at once, looking at Demelza as though she were mad._

_"__Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," said Demelza, unperturbed. "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So - everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"_

_Everybody put up their hands, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very halfheartedly._

_"__Er - right, thanks," said Harry, who could feel his face burning._

_"__And - what, Demelza?"_

_"__I also think we ought to have a name," she said brightly, "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unit like quidditch, don't you think?"_

_"__Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" said Angelina hopefully._

_"__Or the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group?" suggested Fred._

_"__I was thinking," said Demelza, frowning at Fred, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings"_

_"__The Defence Association?" said Cho. "The DA for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"_

_"__Yeah, the D.A.'s good," said Ginny. "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"_

_There was a good deal of appreciative murmuring and laughter at this._

_"__All in favour of the D.A.?" said Demelza bossily, kneeling up on her cushion to count. "That's a majority - motion passed!"_

_She pinned the piece of paper with all of their names on it on the wall and wrote DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY across the top in large letters._

_"__Right," said Harry, when she had sat down again, "shall we get practicing then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful -"_

_"__Oh please," said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eyes and folding his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"_

_"__I've used it against him," said Harry quietly. "It saved my life last June"_

Harry waited for anyone else to speak up, but no-one did so he continued, "While you are in this room, you will call him by his name - Voldemort", he paused again, allowing everyone to shudder, "If you can't do that, at least use his real name - Tom Riddle. He was a student here fifty years ago, a half blood in Slytherin House". He stopped again, allowing them to soak in the information, and allowing the looks of shock to fade.

"Alright so everyone pair up, find a spot and practice disarming only".

Harry feared a reaction to an odd number of Slytherins, so Ginny offered to pair with Astoria, and Daphne with Blaise, so that Harry could walk around and correct people. He spent the first five minutes with Neville, before he managed to disarm Luna properly.

He had to tell off Fred and George for disarming Smith behind his back, before correcting Smith and MacMillan. He lingered watching Ginny and Astoria, who had no problems. Blaise was also fine, but Daphne was too timid, but he managed to get her to be slightly more forward.

Lee Jordan and his three quidditch chasers were all fine, and had paired off. Cho Chang and Terry Boot were good, but Terry seemed hesitant to attack Cho, who had no qualms.

The Creevey Brothers were rather adept at the spells, and anxious to practice, so were fine, as were Coote and Peakes.

Harry's biggest problems were the Patil Twins, Lavender Brown and Romilda Vane.

He had seen the four of them do some average spellwork in lessons and practice before, but they seemed to want constant demonstrations, and Romilda kept clutching at him. It took Ginny, Angelina, Alicia and Katie subtly threatening them when Harry turned around to get them to stop. After that Harry had no further problems.

"All right everybody, that' all for tonight", this was met with a resounding number of groans, "You've all done well, so next week we'll meet here and start on stunning, and we'll have a way of communicating. So I'll see you all then"

They all filed out of the room in twos and threes, so as not to arouse suspicion, until only Fred, George, Neville, Luna, and Ginny were left in with Harry.

The twins lingered long enough to tell Harry that they had managed to buy out Zonko's and would be ready to open on July first, after they finished their NEWTs. They had also taken the hair loss powder recipe and made it completely dissolvable and tasteless.

Luna and Neville wanted to thank Harry for the invitation to join Dumbledore's Army, before heading to their respective common rooms, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

"So how was my first lesson?"

"Better than one of Umbridge's"

"Small comforts"

"Come on, you were great. Let's go to bed", she held out her hand expectantly.

"You want US to go to bed?"

She blushed deep red at his words, "Git", she punched his arm, before dragging him up to Gryffindor tower, while he chuckled.

…

"As Halloween is coming up, Professor Dumbledore has asked all of his Professors to 'let up' on the amount of homework given. The Ministry believes that this is one of the reasons that standards are falling at Hogwarts, so I would like three feet of parchment on the death of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named by next week. Yes - Mr Potter?"

"How do we do that if he's not dead?"

"Mr Potter, you will do it on the death of You-Know-Who as well as the following days, such as the actions of notorious mass murderer Sirius Black and the heroic Peter Pettigrew"

"Sirius Black is innocent and Peter Pettigrew is the death eater that murdered Cedric Diggory!"

The majority of the class were wide-eyed at Harry's latest proclamation, Harry had never spoke about the graveyard in public before.

"LIES! Detention Mr Potter, tonight, my office, eight o'clock, don't be late"

Clenching his teeth, he began mentally going over his occlumency exercises to calm his mind, before he lost control and exploded on her. He grit his teeth and held his tongue, to Umbridge's evident satisfaction.

"You will all now start at Chapter Seven - Wizard's Duels. There will be no need to talk"

…

At ten minutes to eight, Harry left Ginny in the Library, where they were researching communication charms, so that Harry could head down for his detention with Umbridge.

He arrived at her office at eight o'clock and decided that her taste in decoration was awful, there were cats EVERYWHERE. Normally cats can be cuddly or cute, but the ones on Umbridge's walls were just plain ugly.

"Ah Mr Potter, come in", she smiled sweetly at him, as she spoke in her sickeningly sweet tone, "you will be writing lines, there will be no need to talk". She indicated the black quill and parchment.

"What will I be writing?"

"You will write '_I must not tell lies_'"

"How many times?"

"As many as it takes for the message to sink in"

"You haven't given me any ink Professor"

"You will not be needing it"

He put quill to parchment and began to write, ignoring the shooting pains on the back of his hand, his work with Sirius and Remus had allowed him to identify the blood quill when he saw it, and he also knew it was a highly regulated class B dark object, which was illegal for use on anyone under the age of fifteen, so all he had to do was to get her caught using it on him, and he could remove her from the school. _It's a good thing Ginny has removed most of my stubbornness after all._

…

"Very well Mr Potter, you may leave, I will see you here tomorrow night"

"Yes Professor, eight o'clock?"

"Of course Mr Potter, we'll see if the message sinks in"

…

Clutching the bleeding form of his hand, where the scars were fading, Harry raced up to Gryffindor tower, where Ginny was waiting for him.

She sprang up, when she saw the blood, but he jumped in before she could say anything.

"I have a plan to get rid of Umbridge"

"What do you need me to do?"

…

At exactly eight o'clock the following night Harry found himself back at the office of Professor Umbridge, with the ridiculous cats staring at him. She gave him his instructions in her sickeningly sweet voice, and Harry began to write.

…

They could hear the footsteps of several people outside of her office, and they were getting closer, before one of her cats 'meowed'.

"Give me that!"

She lunged for the quill as he was mid-sentence and wrenched it off of him as the door flew open. The quill was touching the parchment as she grabbed for it; the gash that appeared on Harry's arm started at his wrist and stretched to mid-bicep, the pain tore through his body and he collapsed to the floor, catching sight of the murderous gazes of Professor McGonagall, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, who then stunned Umbridge and proceeded to bind her.

Lupin saw the extreme blood loss Harry was going through and his gaze softened; he picked up his Cub, and headed towards the Hospital Wing. Only Madam Pomfrey could help him now.

…

Waking up, everything was blurry, but he sat up, before someone started pushing him back down, "Now Mr Potter, you lost a lot of blood, your body went into shock because of a dark wound, I must insist that you remain lying down", he identified the voice as Madam Pomfrey, and he felt her hand him his glasses, "now does anything feel weird?"

He thought about it, while he stumbled with his fingers, which were too groggy to use, before answering, "Groggy all over … and my stomach feels kinda heavy"

He heard snickers that alerted him to other people in the room, and thought he heard Madam Pomfrey chuckle, but he may have imagined that.

"Oh here Cub", he heard Remus before he felt him push his glasses onto his face, and then he saw Remus, and the reason everyone was snickering.

"As I was saying Mr Potter, the grogginess is a result of the shock potion I gave you earlier this evening, the weight in your stomach is well …"

She didn't need to finish as he saw the sleeping form of Ginny Weasley in the chair next to his bed. She had managed to sit in the chair, grab his hand and fall asleep with her head on his stomach.

"You should try and get some sleep Harry. Tonks has arrested Umbridge and has taken her to await trial, you'll probably need to go, but that can wait until morning. Snuffles is quite worried about you and-"

Remus stopped talking when he realized that Harry was stroking Ginny's hair, as he lay down on the pillows. It took seconds for him to fall asleep.

Smiling at Madam Pomfrey as he made to leave, who snapped a picture, Remus closed the curtains around the bed, and allowed Madam Pomfrey to lock up for the night.

...

**AN**

So in one chapter , I formed the DA, kept the name, Harry got a detention, and got rid of Umbridge, and got put in the Hospital Wing, AND there was a small amount of H/G in there. So all in all, a nice chapter.

So next chapter will have the trial, as well as a particular H'G moment in Harry's unknowing style, and maybe another fight.

-MarvelMatt

GUYS!

MY LAPTOP IS ON THE FRITZ!

I'm using my Kindle to give you this update, but all my work on chapters 11-14 is currently stored on my laptop hardrive, but the updates ARE coming.


	11. Chapter 11 - The Lion and The Serpent

**Chapter 11 - The Lion and The Serpent**

With the return of Remus the following morning, Harry left the Hospital Wing with Ginny the following morning in high spirits, with the knowledge that Umbridge's trial was set for thirteenth of November. Harry had to appear to make a statement regarding her treatment of him, as well as the other members of the school. One thing was certain, she was NOT coming back to teach at Hogwarts ever again. The board of governors had taken care of that.

Smiling all the way through breakfast; causing Neville to ask him if he was feeling alright, Harry kept imagining all of the pranks he wanted to pull, which would be easier with Umbridge gone, after all, he had a legacy to live up to.

His morning was taken up by double potions, and not even Snape and Malfoy managed to remove his trademark smirk. Managing to brew an exceptional - not that Snape would admit that aloud - blood replenishing potion, Harry left the classroom and headed up to lunch, where he and Neville chatted aimlessly, before it was time for charms.

His new found skill in magic amused him to no end. It allowed him to learn much more advanced spellwork than the other students, and he had started tutoring Neville during their lessons, who repaid the favour, by helping out Harry during Herbology. Hermione however, had taken to spending all of her free time in the library, trying to beat out Harry, which he found very funny, especially as Ron was usually dragged in with her.

Today they were learning disillusionment charms, which Harry had mastered over the summer, and was considering teaching to the DA. Seeing Harry's level of skill with the charm, Professor Flitwick had Harry disillusion animate objects, instead of the quills the others were using. Harry managed to disillusion a large cat, before turning to work with Neville, missing the shock of his Professor's face.

…

As it was Wednesday, Harry found himself at quidditch practice that night, where he was delighted with his team's progress since the start of the year.

He'd insisted on constantly changing the chasers about, so that in the event of an injury, anyone could step up, and it seemed to be working. It was the same with the beaters, all four had managed to become one machine, capable of striking anywhere, and Dennis Creevey was just impressive, when Harry left in two years, he was confident that Dennis would do him proud.

The only problem was his keepers.

Dean Thomas had steadily improved since the year began, thanks in part to Angelina, Alicia and Katie, but Ron was a different story. While still better than the rest of the house, he was moody, foul-mouthed and prone to fits of anger. Not a good team player. _I should get Fred and George to have a word with him. _The problem of Ron would have to wait another day, as the first match of the season, Gryffindor vs Slytherin, was on Saturday.

…

Friday was Halloween, which meant real bats in the Great Hall, as well as Hagrid's usual carved pumpkins and the ghosts in a good mood. The food was done in the spirit of the night, blood flavoured lollipops, pumpkin juice, bat wing soup and ghoul bread were just some of the foods on offer. Everyone was avoiding ghoul bread, so Harry thought it best to steer clear of it, though the bat wing soup was delicious; when the dessert arrived, only Ginny noticed the treacle tart that appeared on Harry's plate.

After everyone had finished eating, Dumbledore got to his feet, and headed for the podium in the middle of the raised platform, the candles brightened and he began.

"Happy Halloween to you all! I'm sure you're all ready to leave, so we'll keep this brief, firstly, after the success of it last year, Hogwarts will be hosting a Yule Ball on Christmas Day, it will be open to all students fourth year and above, though you may invite a younger student if you wish"

Harry felt his breath hitch slightly as Ginny looked at him, _so this is what Padfoot and Moony meant by ball, _at least this time Harry knew who he wanted to ask. _Seriously, you fought VOLDEMORT, and now you're scared of ASKING GINNY OUT? Maybe I should talk to Padfoot and Moony._

"Secondly," Dumbledore continued, "as you are all no doubt aware, Dolores Umbridge was arrested Tuesday evening, the details of which, I will not disclose, however, until that time, please welcome her ministry selected replacement, former Junior Assistant to the Minister, Professor Percival Weasley".

…

The polite applause resounded throughout the room as Percy Weasley strode through the double doors, and made his way towards the staff table. For his part, Harry's mouth was hanging open in shock, and he was not the only one, Professor McGonagall wore an identical expression. Professor Snape wore his usual mask of indifference.

The Weasley's were a different story completely.

The twins and Ginny were looks of pure rage, but Ron's expression was the strangest, it was an expression of utter glee.

The son that had put his family through so much was the same son that had put the joyous expression on Ron's face. It was a look that was duplicated on Hermione's face.

Percy took his seat, waving as he did so, before Dumbledore sent them all to bed.

…

Sensing the hostility in the room, everyone made their way to bed, while Harry, Ginny and the twins remained in the common room. A couple of seventh years wanted to remain, but a glare from Harry sent them packing. It was Fred and George that spoke, while Ginny seethed in silence.

"That great big…"

"insufferable, complete and…"

"utter, big-headed…"

"arrogant, prattish-"

"GUYS!" Harry was yelling to be overheard, "you're stuck with him - get used to it, but we still have the map, and, my cloak, and you're pranking geniuses, AND we have contact with the marauders, when we need it. So I say we get him"

Fred and George split into identical evil grins, and both hugged him, before heading off to bed, _probably to start planning, _as Harry turned to Ginny. She was shaking with anger, and he knew that she needed to blow it off, before she blew it at him. He wanted to ask her to the ball, but now was not a good time.

Knowing the cloak and map where in his back pocket, he pulled out the map, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Come with me"

Wordlessly, Ginny stood up, her face still contorted with rage. They stepped out onto the seventh floor and headed for the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, she shot him a questioning look, but he didn't respond.

They entered the Room of Requirement in relative silence, the only sound being Ginny's shallow, angered breathing. Harry willed the room to conjure up a training dummy, and set Ginny on it.

Harry sat astounded for the next twenty minutes as Ginny fired off curse after curse at the dummy, each one more creative that the last, until she collapsed from exhaustion, Harry went to help her get up, but found her asleep, he was amazed when the room opened a door to the Gryffindor fifth year girl's dormitory, but didn't question it, he carried her through the door, where Demelza was sat, waiting up for Ginny. He laid Ginny on the bed Demelza indicated and left, Demelza tucked her friend in, before going to bed herself.

…

The entire Gryffindor team was seated in the changing room, while Harry was in his office; he stepped out to see them all changed and ready to go. It was time for a rousing captain's speech.

"Right men,"

"And women," chimed Angelina. Harry nodded his head in agreement

"And Women. This is it"

"The big one…"

"The one we've all been waiting for"

At Fred and George's additions, the original six members burst into laughter. The other eight just looked confused; they had never heard Oliver's infamous speech, which he written down for Harry, in his last letter offering advice.

"Right people, seriously now, this is it. Us and the snakes, I'm playing all of the starters today, because this is the difficult match. And the one we need to win. Fred and George have already picked up the food for the victory party. So get out there and let's show those snakes whose BOSS!"

The last part came with a cheer from the team, so they lined up, hearing the voice of Lee Jordan.

…

"Today's match promises to be a good one as we see long-time rivals Slytherin and Gryffindor go at it again. Slytherin obviously want to retake the quidditch cup that Gryffindor claimed last season, while the lions look to hold on to it", the mentions of their teams picked up a positive reaction from their respective stands, and the emerald side cheered as the first man came into sight.

"And here comes Slytherin! Captain Graham Montague, Adrian Pucey and Cassius Warrington make up the chasers, beaters Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, keeper Miles Bletchley and seeker Draco Malfoy!"

The cheering on the green side got even louder but was drowned out by three quarters of the stadium booing, which turned to cheers as Angelina stepped out.

"And the Gryffindor squad, chasers Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet, beaters Fred and George Weasley, keeper Dean Thomas and captain and seeker … Harry Potter!"

As the others took up positions, Harry met Montague in the centre of the pitch and had his fingers crushed, under the watchful eye of Madam Hooch, the snitch went off, the bludgers flew off, and the quaffle was up. The game was on.

…

Watching from above, he felt unfamiliar pride settle over him, watching the team go through the plays that they had worked to create as a team, made him feel proud. The only time he'd ever felt like this before was when he'd conjured a patronus in his third year.

A near-miss with a bludger brought him out of his musings, and he scanned the area for the snitch, as Katie put in another goal making the score 60-10 in their favour.

Dean, for his part, was handling the situation extremely well, he stayed calm and collected as the quaffle came in, and didn't panic when let one goal get past him.

Spotting the snitch next to Katie and Montague, Harry accelerated sharply, as Draco moved to follow, the crowd pulled in their breath. Harry could end it after just ten minutes if he caught it now. He closed in, and was faintly aware of Malfoy behind him; he reached for the snitch …

_WHAM!_

Harry felt someone on top of him.

Montague had pushed Katie from her broom and onto Harry, fouling Gryffindor and spraining Katie's wrist in the process. Harry called for a time out, and after assessing her wrist, determined she was unable to continue.

At Katie's insistence, he swapped Katie out for Ginny, who was only two eager to get on. He saw Angelina giving Ginny a pep talk, and nodded his thanks, he definitely owed her one.

Play resumed and Harry returned to his place above the field, searching for the snitch, while Malfoy shadowed him. Watching his team after the substitution, Harry knew he had made the right choice with a reserve squad, something even Wood had never thought of doing, as he watched Ginny pick up exactly where Katie had left off as she pulled off a perfect Proskoff Ploy, and shot.

"WEASLEY SCORES! 90-20 To Gryffindor"

The lead they had was only increasing now, and Malfoy had apparently come to the same conclusion, as he abandoned shadowing Harry in favour of finding the snitch himself. Gryffindor continued to widen the gap between their scores and suddenly they were winning by over 150 points. It no longer mattered if Harry failed to catch the snitch, but he wanted to beat Malfoy to it anyway. Goyle sent a bludger his way, and he rolled to avoid it, coming up to yell at Goyle, but then he saw it.

The Snitch was near the professors' stand, right across from Malfoy; who hadn't noticed.

_Think, he'll beat us there flat out, but if I can divert him…_

Drawing a conclusion, he glanced upwards, before darting diagonally towards the top of the Professors' stand. The snitch was still hovering, but Malfoy hadn't noticed it yet.

Harry was directly overhead when Lee called out his movement, but Malfoy wasn't stupid, and he finally spotted the snitch.

Malfoy lay flat on his broom for extra speed, and Harry dived.

The snitch dived too.

Malfoy tried to follow, but pulled up near the ground, whereas Harry waited for the last second, before pulling up, raising his fist, snitch clenched firmly in his fingers, toes skimming the ground.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS! 410 - 90!"

…

The party was in full swing by the time the team returned to Gryffindor tower, with all eight members that had played being received as heroes. Ginny and Dean found themselves thrust in the spotlight, and while Ginny seemed uncomfortable with all of the attention, she handled it well. Dean was lapping it up, and had several of the girls hanging onto his every word, and his arms.

The rest of the team made their rounds, while people consistently accosted Harry over his first match as captain, even Seamus, who he had been on rocky terms with since the beginning of the year, shook his hand and congratulated him.

As everyone was on a quidditch winning high, Harry decided that it was the best time for him to sneak away undetected, he needed advice about a certain red head, and what better place to look than a mirror?

He was so preoccupied with his question; he didn't even notice Ginny follow him.

…

"So what do I do?"

"Just ask her Pup"

"We're serious Cub"

"No Moony, I'm Sirius, you're Remus"

"Shut it Padfoot. Seriously Cub, you're overthinking this - just ask her to the ball. If she says yes, then she's interested, if she says no, well … don't worry about that just yet"

"Moony, that's all I've been worried about since Halloween, if she says no, things will get awkward, and then what?"

Harry continued his pacing, while Remus gave examples of the numerous attempts his dad had undertaken to ask out his mum, before he succeeded in his seventh year. Sirius paid attention, but with a blank expression, he was watching the door, in case anyone entered, so when he shook Moony as the door cracked open, neither expected to see Ginny Weasley - the cause of their Godson's frustration, peering in. Twin grins to rival Fred and George appeared on their faces.

Harry, who was still pacing remained unaware of the extra presence in his room.

"So Pup", Sirius began, his grin fading to a smirk, "explain the problem one more time", he fought to keep a straight face, while Remus signalled for Ginny to remain quiet.

"Really Padfoot? We've been over this before. I want to ask her to the Yule Ball, but if I do, and she says no - or thinks I just mean as friends - things will just get awkward"

"And to clarify Cub - you would like more than the one date with her, right?"

"Yes Moony, I would like to ask her out on a proper date, maybe Hogsmeade?"

"Hogsmeade's good Pup - always used to work for me. So who's the girl again?" The grins had returned on both of their faces, as Harry got more exasperated.

"Merlin's sake Padfoot! Have you been listening to me at all? 'The girl' is Ginny! Who else?"

His pacing came to an abrupt halt as Harry heard a small squeak, and turned in time to see Ginny look at him, before darting from the room.

Sparing a glance at the men he considered his godfathers, he ran after her.

...

**AN**

So, as I said at the end of Chapter 10, my updates are probably going to be slower, as my laptop needs maintenance, which will take time.

Next chapter will see the beginning of the HP/GW romance. Remember reviews are appreciated AND encouraged.

Did anyone see Percy coming?

-MarvelMatt


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